Clear as glass

COEUR d'ALENE - Ben and Melissa Mello were thrilled when they settled in Coeur d'Alene in the fall of 2011.

Melissa grew up here and was anxious to return after several years away and living in places like Chicago, San Francisco and Alaska. Both believed this was a great place for their family.

And it was just as they hoped - friendly community, the great outdoors, the coziness of their Garden Avenue home.

But there was, they discovered, one problem, one that they couldn't quite let go, one they just couldn't get past, one that ate at them.

No glass recycling. Most residents just threw it away.

"We were pretty surprised that Coeur d'Alene didn't recycle glass," Melissa said Friday.

"Everywhere we've lived has always recycled everything," she said.

Rather than toss bottles and jars out with the rest of their trash, the Mellos saved it, then drove it, along with that of friends and family, to the transfer station in Spokane.

Still, a question persisted. Why? Why couldn't glass be recycled here?

So they met with Roger Saterfiel, Kootenai County solid waste director. He explained glass recycling was stopped, starting in 2008. The county had been filling a pit near its transfer station with glass, but was told to stop by the Department of Environmental Quality.

The county couldn't afford to ship it - it would cost roughly $20,000 a year to ship glass to recycling companies in Oregon and Canada, and there wasn't a local market for it.

The Mellos understood, but believed there had to be a better way than burying the glass at the Fighting Creek Landfill.

After all, this was a lot of glass. The county estimated residents dropped off about 250 tons of glass annually at the transfer station before the county discontinued taking it.

The couple thought, they discussed, they researched. Then, they found their answer: They would do it. A family project, of sorts.

Thus was born the Coeur d'Alene Glass Recycling Company, a nonprofit. There's already a board, with Melissa president, and Ben the treasurer.

"He's better at the money and finances," Melissa said, smiling.

Their main goal is to keep glass out of landfills, "where it will sit forever," Ben said.

Already, they have about 40 members toward their goal of 100 to 150.

Here's how it will work, starting in March.

Members can choose to have the Mellos pick up their glass for a donation of $180 a year, or drop off their glass twice monthly at their Coeur d'Alene warehouse for $120 a year.

"We wish we could recycle glass for free, but at this point being a small nonprofit, we will rely on our member donations to cover our lease and maintenance costs," Melissa wrote.

The idea, said Melissa, is to start small, be smart, be thoughtful and see it if works. They believe it will.

"The more we started talking about this, all of our family and friends were really responsive," she said. "There's a lot of energy for this."

Jeff and Sarah Owens of Coeur d'Alene were excited to hear a glass recycling company was being formed and plan to participate in the program.

They were disappointed when the county ended its glass recycling program five years ago, and have since been trucking their glass to Spokane.

"We just have always been recyclers," Jeff Owens said. "We find it's important to preserve what we have and not to waste these materials."

The Mellos both work full time. Ben is an airport designer, and Melissa a special education teacher. They're not doing this for money, but they are spending it to make this happen.

Already, they've invested nearly $20,000 to purchase a glass pulverizing machine, recycling bins, a red 1970 Chevy C-10 truck for pick up and lease a warehouse.

"We're never going to get the money that we put into this back," Ben said.

But both believe it's the right thing to do.

Ben, who grew up in Rhode Island, said the Johnston landfill there stands tall.

"You fly over it, it's amazing, you see this landfill," said Ben, who has an environmental science degree from the University of Cincinnati, with an emphasis on landfill management.

"If we can take things away from going to the landfill, we should do that," he said.

The question, said Ben, was once they get enough glass in, what can they do with it?

Plenty, it turns out.

An architect said it could be used in countertops. A landscaper said it would be a base for landscaping.

Road fill, golf course sandtraps, pool filtration systems and fiberglass are all possible uses.

It can be used anywhere you would use crushed rock, sand or gravel, Melissa said.

"We really want to use it as locally as possible," she said.

"The amount of uses for this, it's almost endless," Ben added. "And the fact that we're throwing it away right now, we just said, there's got to be a way to use it locally."

Both Ben and Melissa, along with friends and volunteers, will do the work.

The pulverizing machine - purchased from Glass Aggregate Systems in Minnesota - can crush 500 pounds of glass per hour, and can product three grades.

It's about as loud as a lawnmower and will be in a warehouse in an industrial area, so noise won't be a problem, Ben said.

Ben displays three baggies of crushed glass grades to show what the end product looks like.

"It's amazing what you can use this for," he said.

If the initial venture pans out, they will consider purchasing a larger machine with a conveyor belt. Adding service to bars, breweries and restaurants is also possible.

"There's a lot of ideas we have for the future, " Melissa said.

Info: cdaglassrecycling.org