Collaborating with Phoenix Glass Recycling of North Alabama

April 18, 2024

When you walk into Lemon & Lavender, one of the first things you will hear us share is that we are trying to eliminate single-use plastic containers. While some can be recycled, many find their way to our local landfills due to a few reasons. Many can’t be recycled due to cross-contamination, and those that can still require at least 30% new plastic material to be recycled. So as much as possible, we opt to utilize glass containers. Glass is a superior option because you can always reuse or recycle it. And that's what we want to talk about today - RECYCLING!

Phoenix Glass Recycling of North Alabama in NW Huntsville, off of University and Sparkman, makes it easy for us to move from the Convenient to Conscious with glass containers. Phoenix gives various options for us to do better for the environment including 1) Subscription curbside collection services for $14 per month ($10 if you pay annually), wherein they will come to your house and pick up your glass once a month, 2) For $5 per cart (which holds roughly 100 containers),  you can go to their website and schedule a day and time to drop off at their facility, 3) Monthly Shop & Drop Fridays, an open house-style event where you can bring your glass anytime between 11am and 5pm and still only pay $5 per cart, 4) They now offer an On-Demand Subscription where you can have a one-time curbside pickup when you need it if monthly pickups aren't necessary!

So how do you select the option that is best for you?

1) Curbside Collection Subscription (Monthly Annual, or On Demand). Simple go to their website to sign up

2) Facility Drop-offs outside of their Monthly Shop and Drop Events - You can schedule an appointment for $5 per cart drop-offs.  Just use the Drop-off Appointment Scheduling Form to schedule a time Monday through Friday between 10:30am and 4:30pm.

3) Facility Drop-offs during Shop and Drop Friday Events - Follow them on Facebook to see those dates posted each month and just show up!

So this past week I (Brandy) visited Phoenix Glass, and here's what happened:

When I first pulled up I saw three large cans out front. It was a non-scheduled drop-off Friday so there was a steady stream of drop-offs, and it didn't take long to figure out the process just by watching. When you arrive, simply pop inside and let them know you have a drop-off. The staff will come out to help you upload as needed, and once you've dropped off your glass for recycling, you pay your per-cart processing fee and are welcome to browse their shelves or continue on with your day. That's it!

When you walk inside, you will see shelves of different glass containers for purchase. They have everything neatly arranged so you can select from preferred color to size and sort. And I totally forgot to mention that during their Shop & Drop Friday events they have a particular color/style of glass containers that are FREE that day! Take whatever you need! How is that for giving back?!

So, looking beyond what's happening at Phoenix Glass Recycling, obviously they take in way more glass into the building than what is on the shelves. What you don't see is their warehouse behind the back doors where they have a massive glass crusher. To make it simple, they are back there constantly crushing glass, and once they have 25 tons of large bagged pallets full, they ship it off to Atlanta in an 18-wheeler to a company called Strategic Materials that processes the glass further for manufacturers making recycled glass bottles, construction materials such as road paints, aggregate, and fiberglass among other things.

It was truly an honor to meet the fantastic people at Phoenix Glass Recycling. They are living our mission - to leave the world a better place than we found it. Their mission-driven business is making an impact on our community!

And of course they didn't let me leave empty-handed. Check out all the glass they sent with me back to the store! Thanks to Phoenix Glass, our Freebie Crate will hopefully never be empty again!

So make sure to follow Phoenix Glass on Facebook and Instagram. And now you know what to do with all the extra glass you have at home. Simply get yourself something to store them in the garage (they sell bins too!) until it's full and drop it off at Phoenix Glass Recycling!

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