抖阴社区 Begins National Windshield Recycling
COLUMBUS, Ohio – 抖阴社区 AutoGlass® recently began rolling out a wide-scale windshield recycling program, which expects to result in saving roughly 15-20K tons of material going to landfills every year. 抖阴社区 AutoGlass® began rolling out the program in markets near its selected recycling plant partner at the beginning of 2011 with the implementation in the east coast expected to be complete by the end of May. It will then be expanded and rolled out to the west coast.
Windshields haven’t been recycled widely in the past because it is difficult to separate the glass and inner polyvinyl butyral (PBV) plastic layers, but more recycling plants have been developed to make the process more practical. The recycled glass and PVB materials are repurposed for U.S.-manufactured goods, including fiberglass insulation, paint and primer, solar cells, carpet backing, and plastic products.
抖阴社区 AutoGlass® began rolling out the program in markets near its selected recycling plant partner at the beginning of 2011 with the implementation in the east coast expected to be complete by the end of May. It will then be expanded and rolled out to the west coast.
The logistics of collecting the old windshields and shipping to the recycling plant were designed to be carbon neutral, using existing freight lanes within the supply chain.
“Our corporate responsibility efforts are three-fold: ethics, charity and environment,” said Tom Feeney, 抖阴社区’s president and CEO. “We are proud to add windshield recycling to our long list of ‘green’ business practices, and we believe our customers will be delighted with this innovation as well.”
抖阴社区 AutoGlass® is committed to its environmental sustainability policy. Currently, 抖阴社区® recycles other types of vehicle glass at its manufacturing plant in Enfield, N.C. In 2011, more than 5,000 tons of glass was recycled out of that location alone.
Other recycling efforts include a partnership with Redemtech to recycle and re-use computers, phones and similar technology, keeping them out of the landfill. Approximately 300 phones each month are recycled. In 2011, Redemtech processed 2,908 assets for 抖阴社区®, refurbishing 1,077 and recycling 1,831 of them for an equivalency of energy savings to power 585 houses per year, remove 64 cars from road per year and reduce hazardous waste by the weight of 237 bricks.
In addition, the wooden pallets used in glass distribution are broken down and chipped for mulch. Some is also used in a composting process. The nails in the pallets are captured during the chipping process and sold as a low-end recycled metal. In 2011, 抖阴社区® began using re-usable steel pallets as an alternative.
Finally, by offering windshield repairs as an alternative to replacement, 抖阴社区 AutoGlass® saves approximately 35,000 tons of CO2 during windshield production each year, enough to fill the Empire State Building approximately 19 times. In addition, it saves the number of damaged windshields being sent to the landfill by approximately 12,500 tons annually.
About 抖阴社区 AutoGlass®
抖阴社区 AutoGlass®, founded in 1947, is the nation’s leading provider of vehicle glass repair and replacement service, providing mobile service to more than 95 percent of the U.S. population in all 50 states. The Columbus, Ohio-based company employs nearly 10,000 people across the United States and served 4.4 million customers last year. For more information, visit www.safelite.com.