Mat-Su's new glass recycling program set to launch next month

What you need to know:

• The Mat-Su recycling center near the Central Landfill in Palmer will begin accepting glass on Sept. 9, with plans to convert it into sand or gravel using a newly installed pulverizer. The processed material will be available for purchase for a variety of uses, including traction or compost sand, or as landscaping gravel. 
• Donated glass must be clean and free of lids. Labels do not need to be removed. Large glass items, including oversized jars and window panes, will not be accepted. The center also will not accept stoneware, plates or ceramics. Glass will not be accepted at borough transfer stations.
• Recycling heavy glass can significantly reduce the weight of trash headed to the landfill, saving residents and businesses money. The Valley Community for Recycling Solutions center is free to use, though a $3 donation per visit is encouraged.

PALMER — Mat-Su’s recycling center will begin accepting glass drop-offs early next month, with plans to process and resell the material as sand and gravel. 

Starting Sept. 9, residents can drop off glass at the Valley Community for Recycling Solutions center near the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Central Landfill in Palmer. Glass will not be accepted at landfill transfer stations.

The update marks the first time Mat-Su residents will be able to recycle glass in the region in nearly 20 years. A previous Mat-Su glass recycling program was shut down in 2008 due to high shipping costs and a lack of local processing options.

Recycling center crews will process the glass through the center’s large new pulverizer machine, converting it into material in a range of textures, including very fine sand or smooth-edged chunks. The pulverized glass can be safely used for a wide variety of purposes, including traction or compost sand, or as walkway gravel, recycling center officials said during a preview of the machine Friday.

Officials plan to sell the processed glass to the public for about $5 per bucket. Specific prices are still under review, they said.

The Valley Community for Recycling Solutions is a nonprofit funded by grants, donations, sales of collected goods, and about $200,000 in annual borough subsidies. Drop-offs at the Mat-Su recycling center are free to users, though a $3 donation per visit is encouraged, officials said.

The center will accept clean glass with caps removed before drop-off, recycling center officials said during a recent preview of the new pulverizer. Labels do not need to be removed because the machine strips them off during processing, they said. Glass must be gallon-sized or smaller, they said.

Stemware and canning jars are permitted for drop-off, but the center cannot accept very large jars, window panes, plates, stoneware or other ceramics, or glass shower doors because of the processing capacity of the pulverizer, officials said.

The $185,000 pulverizing machine is the first of its kind in Southcentral, borough officials said. It was funded by landfill fees and unanimously approved by the assembly late last year.

Housed in a large tent behind the recycling center that was previously used for storage, the machine moves glass up a conveyor belt and into the pulverizer hopper, where it is churned through hammers before sifting out into large piles of sand or gravel. At the machine's far end, confetti-sized bits of label paper stripped during processing flutter into a barrel.

Recycling center employees began regularly testing the machine after it was fully installed earlier this month, said Tamara Boeve, the center’s executive director. Plans to have the program up and running by early summer were thwarted by manufacturing and purchase delays, she said.

Boeve and her team said they hope members of the public will be patient as they add glass to their volunteer-run collection area and learn all the ins and outs of running a new program.

“We want people to understand this is a work in progress,” said Pam Ness, who has worked for the recycling center since 2023 and is overseeing the pulverizer. “It’s a learning curve for us, as well as for everybody else.”

Denali Brewing in Talkeetna and Turkey Red in Palmer have already brought glass to the center for use in testing the machine, and a variety of other companies and organizations hope to do so soon, Boeve said. Because glass is so heavy, removing it from the trash can have a dramatic impact on by-weight landfill fees for businesses that go through a lot of bottles, she said.

While the center will collect glass donations year-round, Boeve said pulverizing operations will pause over the winter, when water used by the machine to eliminate glass dust is likely to freeze in the unheated and uninsulated operations tent. Glass collected during that period will be stockpiled for processing later, she said.

Ness said she is excited to put the sand and gravel produced by the machine to good use.

“I’d use this as traction sand in my driveway,” she said. “And the finer stuff, I want to mix it in with my carrots instead of having to use sand — see what happens.”

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com