Salt Lake Brewing Company Finds Success in Glass Recycling

SEATTLE (Waste 360):  Salt Lake Brewing Company, a Salt Lake City--based brewery, has always placed an emphasis on sustainability. Thanks to a partnership with local startup Momentum Recycling, the brewery has been able to not only participate in a glass recycling pilot program but also recruit other local businesses to participate as well.

Salt Lake Brewing Company had gone through several unsuccessful glass recycling programs before being connected with Momentum Recycling. For example, it previously had beer bottles blown into glasses that could be used in its restaurant, and its employees even recycled by hand for a short time.

Before going green became popular, Salt Lake Brewing Company co-founders Jeff Polychronis and Peter Cole were committed to environmental responsibility. They formed their brewing company to embrace the “triple bottom line” ideal—putting not just profit, but people and planet first.

But a decade or so ago, there wasn’t much of an infrastructure for businesses that wanted to embrace sustainability. Salt Lake Brewing Company’s founders and employees were passionate about the idea of having a robust glass recycling program, but didn’t have a way to make that happen—the city did not yet have a program, and neither did any other company they could find. So they became invested in finding their own solution.

“We were generating tons of glass—everything we made was in glass bottles, not cans. And the city didn’t have a program,” says James Soares, director of operations for Salt Lake Brewing Company.  “But we didn’t give up on finding a way to recycle our glass.”

Courtesy: https://waste360.com