Dr. Donald Freas founded TriVitro after a 30 year career in the mining and metals industry . He was asked to participate in Washington State's Clean Washington Center, a public-private initiative to find creative ways to increase the markets and uses of recyclable commodities. Focusing specifically on waste glass, he realized that much of the technology used in the mineral fields could be adapted to processing recycled glass. Intrigued by the possibilities of the "urban mine" of recycled materials, Dr. Freas founded TriVitro in 1996 to develop the commercial uses for recycled glass. The company started as a small-scale processing plant at the old Henry Bacon Lumber site (now the 351 Elliott Avenue Office Park) and since expanded to a high capacity processing plant in Kent, Washington.