Recycle a Pickle Jar, Create a Job
Recycling conserves resources and protects the environment. But did you know it also creates jobs?
In fact, for every 1,000 tons of recycled material, 1.17 jobs, $65,000 in wages and $9,000 in tax revenue is generated. When recycling is effective, both our environment and our economy win.
Recycling Glass is Good for Colorado
Colorado glass recyclers depend on people like you to recycle their glass bottles and containers to stay in business.
More recycling companies have opened their doors in Colorado, bringing with them advanced cleaning and sorting technology, more glass is being recycled. Even with that increase, Colorado recyclers have capacity to recycle even more glass. If Coloradans recycle more of their glass, recyclers hire more workers and create materials for bottle manufacturing, fiberglass insulation, sandblasting, asphalt engineering and other glass-related products.
Recycled Glass Stays in Colorado
Colorado is unique in that we have a closed-loop recycling system for glass. That means we can collect, process and transform glass into a new product right here in our state — with little loss of quality and little waste.
It works like this:
- You recycle your glass bottles in your curbside recycling bin or at a drop-off center.
- Your recycling is picked up and sorted.
- The recycler cleans the glass and sorts it further.
- The cleaned and sorted glass is sold to local bottling companies, in Wheat Ridge and Windsor, where it is remanufactured into new beer bottles, ready to repeat the cycle.
Recycle a Pickle Jar, Create a Job
These systems only work when people participate in the process. That means choosing glass over plastics at the grocery store, then responsibly recycling them:
- Know what glass is recyclable in your curbside bin. Soda, beer, wine and other drink bottles; pickle, jelly, sauce or baby food jars; clear, blue, green and brown bottles are all recyclable.. Windows, ovenware, lightbulbs, Pyrex and crystal are only recyclable through special programs. Not sure? Grab your phone, go online and check.
- Rinse it. Dirty glass can contaminate the recycling stream.
- Place it in your recycling bin or take it to a drop-off center.
When you choose to recycle, you can be assured that you are not only reducing your environmental footprint, but also helping to create jobs right here in Colorado.
Take the recycling pledge to help Erase the Waste in Colorado.
