Glass Half Full was established in New Orleans in 2020 to fill a major gap: before their founding, there were no glass-recycling facilities in the city. The organization offers glass-collection services to residents, businesses, and events, as well as free drop-off hubs across the city and surrounding parishes. Once the glass is collected and diverted from the landfill, it is sorted by color, and cleaned of plastics and metal components.
How it Works
Collection & diversion: Glass is collected via their pick-up services, drop-off hubs, and event recycling efforts.
Processing: At their local Louisiana facility the sorted glass is crushed in hammer-mill crushers, sifted to separate size distributions, and converted into sand and gravel material ranging from fine, beach-like powder to larger “glass gravel”. Importantly, the processing is local — nothing is shipped out of state or overseas.
Reuse & distribution: The recycled glass sand and gravel are then used in a variety of applications: coastal restoration, disaster relief (e.g., sandbags and levee reinforcements), flooring and glass-product manufacturing, and everyday uses.