Utah has a fairly robust glass recycling “ecosystem,” says Stevie Norcross, Assistant Director of the Utah Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control. That’s because Momentum Recycling operates as a glass recycling facility in Salt Lake County, while Owens Corning’s plant in Nephi takes recycled glass and manufactures it into new products, primarily fiberglass building insulation. Some glass in southern Utah can also be sent to a facility in Las Vegas.
“Utah is at an advantage for glass recycling, and I think it’s good to continue to help boost that system we have in place,” she told members of the Utah Legislature’s Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee. However, she warns that glass recycling is much easier in some parts of the state than others.
Norcross presented findings of a study on glass recycling to the committee to comply with HB177, which lawmakers passed earlier this year. It was inspired by uncertainty about how to handle $4 million worth of glass from the North Capitol building as it was being demolished for the new state museum, members of the interim committee explained.