Millennium Recycling is furthering its glass recycling business in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company, which started recycling glass bottles and jars shortly after switching to a single-stream rec…
Millennium Recycling is furthering its glass recycling business in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company, which started recycling glass bottles and jars shortly after switching to a single-stream recycling system in 2008, will start processing its glass in-house. The company currently sends its glass to other companies to process. There is a growing market for post-consumer glass, such as in the fibreglass industry. Jake Anderson, chief executive of Millennium Recycling, has been investing in new plant and has put up a new building to start processing the glass. He hopes to have the operation up and running within the next few weeks. It means the firm will take on a few new employees. Millennium currently employs about 70 people. Mr. Anderson said he will be working mainly with the fibreglass industry to sell his product, but he will also work with an unnamed local company that will use some of the material. In July 2007 and early 2008, Millennium started accepting single-stream recycling, accepting glass jars and containers. That means recyclables do not have to be separated. Though Millennium accepts the products, not all haulers recycle glass. Millennium processes about 200 tons to 350 tons of glass per month, he said. Mr. Anderson said the market for recycled glass products has started to expand. Years ago, the only use for it was glass bottle to glass bottle, he said. “There have been a number of developments in the marketplace over the course of probably two to three years”, he said, particularly with insulation companies being more willing to use post-consumer glass for their products. Mr. Anderson said his goal is to be a destination for companies that want to get involved in handling post-consumer glass. Once the new glass processing facility is up and running, Mr. Anderson said he also plans to expand the company“s glass recycling efforts to include larger commercial businesses such as restaurants and bars, something he has not done so far.