Allan Gerlat, News Editor

April 25, 2012

1 Min Read
Safelite Launches Windshield Recycling Program

Safelite AutoGlass has begun a windshield recycling program, which it expects to divert about 12 million to 15 million tons of waste from landfills annually.

The Columbus, Ohio-based windshield replacement firm said in a news release it began the program in 2011 in markets near its selected recycling plant partner. The company expects to complete implementation on the East Coast by the end of May. The program will then expand to the West Coast.

The logistics of collecting used windshields and shipping them to the recycling plant are designed to be carbon neutral, using existing freight lanes within Safelite’s supply chain, the company said.

Windshields have not been recycled widely because of the difficulty in separating the glass and inner polyvinyl butyral (PBV) plastic layers. But now more recycling plants are able to process the material practically, Safelite said. The recycled glass and PVB materials are reused in U.S.-made goods, including fiberglass insulation, paint and primer, solar cells, carpet backing and plastic products.

Currently, Safelite recycles other types of vehicle glass at its manufacturing plant in Enfield, N.C. In 2011, the facility recycled more than 5 million tons of glass.

"Our corporate responsibility efforts are threefold: ethics, charity and environment," said Tom Feeney, Safelite's president and CEO. "We are proud to add windshield recycling to our long list of 'green' business practices.”

 

About the Author(s)

Allan Gerlat

News Editor, Waste360

Allan Gerlat joined the Waste360 staff in September 2011 as news editor. He was the editor of Waste & Recycling News for the first 16 years of its history, and under his guidance the publication won 27 national and regional awards.

Before Waste & Recycling News, Allan worked at another Crain Communications publication, Rubber & Plastics News, which covers rubber product manufacturing. He began with the publication as associate editor and eventually became managing editor, a position he held for nine years.

Allan is a graduate of Ohio University, where he earned a BS in journalism. He is based in Sagamore Hills, in northeast Ohio.

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