A Sylvania family-owned company
Recycle Services is a glass recycling company that was founded in Sylvania, Ohio in 2010. However, the Stansley family owned-and-operated business goes back far beyond that, having established themselves in the Silica district – a heavy industrial area known for its rich history in the glass making industry – of Sylvania Township in 1975. The company has a mission of providing glass recycling services for the ‘Glass City’ communities and many storied glass manufacturers in town – with additional facilities in Michigan and Tennessee. This Sylvania small business has found its stride – from four generations of family experience in trucking, industrial manufacturing and customer service.
The value of recycled glass
Recycled glass is highly valued by glass manufacturers, such as Owens-Corning and Owens-Illinois, due to its ability to decrease energy consumption and carbon emissions in the glass furnaces that melt and create new glass products. While recycled glass has several important benefits, cleaning the waste glass to the point that it can be safely used in manufacturing is no small task. Therefore, Recycle Services has developed an eight-step process to remove high-levels of contamination such as paper, plastic, metal, ceramics, and liquids. To fulfill this tall order, Recycle Services worked closely with many engineering teams from across the world, as far as Austria, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to build a state-of-the-art recycling facility at their Sylvania headquarters. “This multimillion-dollar investment in a specialized glass recycling facility required us to make a strong commitment to sustainability and the Sylvania community, something we did not hesitate to do because this is our-, our kids- and our-grandkids home,” said Jeff Stansley, President and Co-founder of Recycle Services.
Furthermore, with sustainability in mind, Stansley says they are continually improving the Sylvania facility and their processes. “We are constantly looking for new technologies and ways to reduce our carbon footprint. For example, we have recently re-engineered our glass heater, which reduces water contamination in the glass, to use propane as an energy source. This cleaner fuel will further reduce our carbon emissions.”
One thing that might seem obvious, but is rarely thought about, is that glass is the heaviest of all recyclable materials, and therefore, the most costly to transport. Understanding that, and wanting to provide a solution, Recycle Services used its expertise in the transportation and handling of industrial products to create a waste-to-value proposition for northwest Ohio’s glass waste. On average, Recycle Services diverts over 200 million pounds of glass from the local landfills in Ohio through its recycling efforts.
In addition to landfill diversion, Recycle Services focuses on the triple-bottom line (people, planet, and profit), by employing over 90 glass recycling professionals to create jobs and support the local economy. They are proud to not only support the community by offering high-paying industrial careers, but also through philanthropic support for initiatives that benefit the community like Avenues for Autism and Young Life and those that push for a cleaner and greener Sylvania.
One such initiative is the Glass Recycling In Toledo (G.R.I.T.) program that collects glass from customer drop off points and local bar and restaurant venues.
A sustainable glass future: The G.R.I.T. Initiative
Rolled out this year, the G.R.I.T. initiative is a collaborative effort by Recycle Services and their partners in the Norwest Ohio Innovation Consortium (NOIC), namely Owens-Illinois and Owens-Corning, to improve the circularity of glass by strengthening collection infrastructure. The company has also partnered with local counties, including Lucas County, to provide drop-off locations for glass. “We take glass bottle, jars, and even windows…Just look for the white bin,” says Alicia Maxwell, the teams Marketing Coordinator heading up the G.R.I.T. initiative. As with other recycling efforts, public education is a key priority to making this service stand the test of time. Recycling Services has hosted several public workshops and funded several recycling programs locally. The company also plans to work with Keep Toledo Beautiful to find innovative ways to educate the community, especially youth, about the benefits of Glass Recycling.
To learn more about the company and their glass saving mission visit RS-GRIT.com.