ISSUED: 29 October 2019
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — As part of efforts to improve recycling on campus, Shepherd University will use a $17,305 Recycling Assistance Grant from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP) to purchase a bottle crusher system for a new glass recycling initiative.
Jim King, director of facilities management at Shepherd, will manage the grant. He said the university will purchase a GLSand compact glass bottle crusher and sifter. The crusher is capable of turning bottles into sand that has a variety of uses such as in art, landscaping, ice making, golf course bunkers, pool filtration systems, and high-end sand blasting. The sand can also be used to make asphalt patches for pot holes and can be mixed into concrete.
“We’ll encourage everyone on campus to bring in glass and then we’ll hook the machine up and process the glass on an as-needed basis,” King said. “I am excited about this, and I’m hoping Shepherd is at the forefront of adopting this technology.”
King pointed out it costs money to recycle glass, so the glass crusher has the potential to save money while providing a useful product.
The GLSand bottle crusher was invented by Expleco Limited of New Zealand. It can turn 160 beer bottles or 60 wine and spirit bottles into a five-gallon bucket of sand.
— 30 —
