Glass Recycling Comes To End In Idaho Falls

Glass recycling has ended in Idaho Falls.

The last glass recycling company in the area has stopped accepting new material, meaning glass will have to go into landfills.

Stan May, owner of Western Reclaiming and Recycling, said his company probably was the last in eastern Idaho that took glass. But it’s no longer feasible.

May said his company received between $2 and $40 per ton shipped to plants in Denver or Portland. Shipping alone cost $30-35, plus another $25 to sort glass. Western Recycling lost $1,000 on shipments it made twice a year, said May.

“We should have stopped taking it three years ago,” he said. “The reason we continued was that nobody else was taking it.”

The company still recycles other products.

The demise of glass recycling could mean an extra 48 tons of glass bound for local landfills every year.