By Joseph Derr Photography by Mike Kane
After oxygen, silicon is the most prevalent
naturally occurring substance on the Earth
crust. Add two parts of oxygen to one part
silicon (a process that happens naturally
there), and you get silicon dioxide, a core
component of most rocks and sand. Heat up
that sand to about 3,090 degrees, and it
becomes a liquid, hardening into the glass when it
cools.
Though glass is derived from a naturally
occurring material, once that substance is
transformed into bottles, it is hardly a boon to
the environment. Each year in the U.S.,
people throw away some 8 million tons of
glass, a bulky part of landfills that can last
ages. The Environmental Protection Agency
reports that only about a third of glass that
Americans buy gets recycled.
naturally occurring substance on the Earth
crust. Add two parts of oxygen to one part
silicon (a process that happens naturally
there), and you get silicon dioxide, a core
component of most rocks and sand. Heat up
that sand to about 3,090 degrees, and it
becomes a liquid, hardening into the glass when it
cools.
Though glass is derived from a naturally
occurring material, once that substance is
transformed into bottles, it is hardly a boon to
the environment. Each year in the U.S.,
people throw away some 8 million tons of
glass, a bulky part of landfills that can last
ages. The Environmental Protection Agency
reports that only about a third of glass that
Americans buy gets recycled.
The Rotary Club of Chelan, Washington,
found an opportunity to mine some of that
glass out of the waste stream. Its 911 Glass
The rescue project turns used bottles and broken
the glass back into sand that can be used in
gardening, landscaping, playgrounds, and
biological water filter projects. The club
partnered with local agencies and businesses
to buy a glass pulverizing machine from
Andela Products. Company President and
CEO Cynthia Andela is not just a glass
industry expert; she also happens to be a
member of the Rotary Club of Richfield
Springs, New York. I've been a Rotarian for
years, and I've been selling these machines
for years"; says Andela. "But this Chelan club
the project, which unites both worlds, made me
realize just how much Rotary can do".
Club members told us the story of how they
make sand from unwanted glass.
Washington wine country
Our community in north central Washington
includes the city of Chelan and the community
of Manson, both cleaved to the shore of
glacier-fed Lake Chelan, one of the country's
deepest freshwater lakes. In addition to
boasting enormous natural beauty, the lakes
Another main attraction is that it's in
Washington's wine country. Nestled between
the foothills of the Cascades mountain range
and the Columbia River, the area's rich
mountain soil and moderate air temperatures
create a lush valley ideal for viniculture. The
The lake's shores are dotted with more than 30
wineries and some 300 acres of vines.
Thousands of visitors annually enjoy the
wines and the scenery. And residents do their
part to support the local economy, imbibing
Lake Chelan's wines. Our club meets at
Tsillan Cellars, which has a great tasting
room.
for years"; says Andela. "But this Chelan club
the project, which unites both worlds, made me
realize just how much Rotary can do".
Club members told us the story of how they
make sand from unwanted glass.
Washington wine country
Our community in north central Washington
includes the city of Chelan and the community
of Manson, both cleaved to the shore of
glacier-fed Lake Chelan, one of the country's
deepest freshwater lakes. In addition to
boasting enormous natural beauty, the lakes
Another main attraction is that it's in
Washington's wine country. Nestled between
the foothills of the Cascades mountain range
and the Columbia River, the area's rich
mountain soil and moderate air temperatures
create a lush valley ideal for viniculture. The
The lake's shores are dotted with more than 30
wineries and some 300 acres of vines.
Thousands of visitors annually enjoy the
wines and the scenery. And residents do their
part to support the local economy, imbibing
Lake Chelan's wines. Our club meets at
Tsillan Cellars, which has a great tasting
room.
The landfill problem
Residents of Chelan, a town of a little more
than 4,000, were concerned about what
happens to all those used wine bottles and
other glass. For the most part, the bottles end
up in a landfill, as is the case throughout the
U.S. And they sit there for a very long time;
government environmental agencies have
theorized that landfill glass could take a
million years to decompose. Many
municipalities across the country have
eliminated glass recycling in recent years for
multiple reasons, including that glass shards
contaminate paper and plastic recycling
streams. Chelan stopped glass recycling in
2018, and many residents and business
leaders were not pleased. While the ideal
the environmental solution is to manufacture new
glass bottles and jars from used glass, that
requires a glass processing plant. Chelan is
more than a three-hour drive from the closest
glass processor, in Seattle. Transporting glass
that far would leave a huge carbon footprint.
That would be part of the problem, not the
solution.
contaminate paper and plastic recycling
streams. Chelan stopped glass recycling in
2018, and many residents and business
leaders were not pleased. While the ideal
the environmental solution is to manufacture new
glass bottles and jars from used glass, that
requires a glass processing plant. Chelan is
more than a three-hour drive from the closest
glass processor, in Seattle. Transporting glass
that far would leave a huge carbon footprint.
That would be part of the problem, not the
solution.
A local solution
If recycling old bottles into new ones was out
of the question, there had to be another way.
Our club, long active in the community, was
determined to find one. In 2020, the club's
Preserve Planet Earth Committee decided to
draw on a pilot project started by two amazing
local high school students, Megan Clausen
and Devyn Smith. These kids were making
sand from a single-bottle crusher they
purchased. It was a laborious operation run
out of the garage at Clausen's home. But
committee members were impressed. If
replicated on a larger scale, this project
potentially offered a local solution to a local
problem.
Rotary connection
The extended COVID-19 lockdown provided
ample opportunity for club members to
research how we might upscale the pilot
project. This ultimately led us to Andela
Products, an upstate New York manufacturer
of glass-pulverizing and crushing equipment.
Further investigation revealed that the
company's principal, Cynthia Andela, was the
2019-20 president of the Rotary Club of
Richfield Springs, New York. When we
discovered this coincidence, we knew the
the partnership was meant to be.
the partnership was meant to be.
Forming a team
We were intrigued by Andela Products’ long
experience selling its machines to small
Caribbean municipalities with limited landfill
space and the need to import expensive
natural sand for their beaches. The Caribbean
the model might be replicated around Lake
Chelan. With this notion, 911 Glass Rescue
was born. This nonprofit club affiliate is led by
a board of directors the club elects.
Partnerships with the city of Chelan and
Chelan County Solid Waste Management,
which secured a grant from Washington
Department of Ecology provided most of the
funding. Fifteen local wineries signed on as
sponsors. With the $150,000 fundraising goal
met, the machine was soon en route from
upstate New York to Washington.
‘People just keep coming back’
Our club members helped install the machine
in June 2021, working with an Andela
representative. The operation is housed at a
waste transfer station in Chelan. Each
Saturday morning, our club members and
local volunteers collect used glass from a long
line of arriving vehicles. People dropping off
glass pay a modest fee to help defray
operating costs. The club sells the end
product, pulverized glass sand, and aggregate,
in buckets. Residents buy them for
landscaping, gardening, and decorative
projects. The community project fills everyone
with pride in their part in rescuing all that used
glass from the landfill. People just keep
coming back, because they believe in it.
Crushing it
Our club has dubbed the crusher Paulie the
Pulverizer, after Rotary founder Paul Harris.
Volunteers feed the collected glass into a
hopper. A conveyor belt transports it to the
pulverizer, where spinning hammers break up
the glass as it gets pushed through a vortex
— similar to a kitchen blender. Proprietary
Andela technology rounds off the sharp edges
of the glass pieces, making them safe to
handle. While the work is labor intensive, it is
also rewarding. As of mid-September, Paulie
has crushed more than 316,000 pounds of
glass — that’s the equivalent of about
316,000 wine bottles diverted from the landfill.
Just like real sand
The machine separates the end product into
two sizes: aggregate and sand. Nonglass
items like labels, corks, and lids are deposited
into a separate trash bin. The end product is
just like the main component of all glass: In
shape and substance, it is sand once again.
Entirely safe to handle, the manufactured
sand runs through your fingers just like mined
sand. It makes an ideal mulch, as it helps
water drain, repels pests, and acts as a
thermal blanket in winter.
Volunteers feed the collected glass into a
hopper. A conveyor belt transports it to the
pulverizer, where spinning hammers break up
the glass as it gets pushed through a vortex
— similar to a kitchen blender. Proprietary
Andela technology rounds off the sharp edges
of the glass pieces, making them safe to
handle. While the work is labor intensive, it is
also rewarding. As of mid-September, Paulie
has crushed more than 316,000 pounds of
glass — that’s the equivalent of about
316,000 wine bottles diverted from the landfill.
Just like real sand
The machine separates the end product into
two sizes: aggregate and sand. Nonglass
items like labels, corks, and lids are deposited
into a separate trash bin. The end product is
just like the main component of all glass: In
shape and substance, it is sand once again.
Entirely safe to handle, the manufactured
sand runs through your fingers just like mined
sand. It makes an ideal mulch, as it helps
water drain, repels pests, and acts as a
thermal blanket in winter.
A community project The Lake Chelan community is solidly behind
our club’s project. We promote it through local
radio, newspapers, and social media. Our
team hired Megan Clausen, one of the local
students who inspired the project. Now a
college student, she helps with record
keeping, volunteer coordination, and social
media. The broad community support bodes
well for the long-term sustainability of 911
Glass Rescue, an idea born of Rotary. People
wanted to be a part of the solution, and now
we have one.
This story originally appeared in the
December 2022 Issue of Rotary Magazine.
December 2022 Issue of Rotary Magazine.