Every single piece of glass in the Lower Mainland that gets properly recycled spends a little time in Abbotsford thanks to Enviro-Corp Recycling.
The company, located at 30 2nd Ave. in the Huntingdon area, was founded in 2006 when parent company United Concrete earned a successful bid for the glass recycling contract for Encorp Pacific.
Clear glass bottles are transformed into cullet and shipped to bottle manufacturers and coloured glass is reused as abrasive grit for sandblasting locomotive traction control in rail yards and water filtration media.
Enviro-Corp has annually processed as much as 60,000 tonnes of glass for reuse, but one problem they encountered during all they work they did was dust. Creating the grit involved pounding glass into small particles and some of that leftover dust was not being used and was being sent to the landfill.
"When you're making sandblast abrasive from waste glass, it creates a huge amount of dust," explained Enviro-Corp Recycling sales manager Sebastian Naslund. "So all this dust was just accumulating and you might think it's a little bit, but it was like 20 tonnes a day and now today we're up to 50 tonnes a day."
Naslund said that in 2015 Enviro-Corp management began hearing about what Europe was doing with their excess glass dust and excess waste.
The final result of that baking process is enviro-rock 香蕉视频直播� a lightweight foam glass aggregate that can be used as a sustainable building material. It is strong, provides thermal insulation, is free-draining, fireproof, frost-resistant and is effective at sound absorption. The product's applications include roadway infrastructure, buildings and green roofs, landscaping, dykes, embankments and back fill for manholes and piping.
Naslund said that the main reason why this type of use for glass hasn't taken off in North America is cost. Enviro-Corp has the lone oven capable of creating lightweight foam aggregate in Canada and the ovens are extremely costly. Industrial land costs are also not cheap in the Lower Mainland, which is why it made more sense to have the oven elsewhere. The glass dust gets shipped via truck to Enviro-Corp's other recycling facility in Quesnel where the oven is located.
He explained that insulator Owens Corning patented the process in the 1940s and originally it was sold in large blocks. Scandinavian countries would purchase those blocks and smash them up into small pieces and place them under some of their tundra roads to prevent freeze thaw and some of the deformities that occur as a result of that. Eventually, those European countries began using their own recycled glass to create the product and have been doing so since the 1970s. Naslund said he thinks a large percentage of recycled glass in Europe gets turned into rocks.
Using enviro-rock is considered more environmentally friendly than other construction materials such as pumice 香蕉视频直播� which has to be extracted from a quarry or styrofoam 香蕉视频直播� which is a petroleum-based product, is slow to degrade and can leach into water sources if disposed of improperly. One material that does pose a challenge for enviro-rock is gravel, which is much cheaper but is also more costly to ship. The lightweight nature of enviro-rock does give it an advantage for shipping purposes.
Earlier this summer enviro-rock was approved for use in portions of the SkyTrain expansion in Surrey and Langley and the product was also installed beneath a major soccer field project for the City of Vancouver. A new playground being constructed in Maple Ridge is also expected to use the product.
Naslund wanted to make it clear that the Enviro-Corp facility in Abbotsford can take all manner of glass and urged people and businesses not to just throw glass out.
"We are trying to divert waste from the landfill," he said. "The biggest source that we're not getting glass from is demolitions. When they're not getting a refund for recycling then it's only people who really care that call us up and pay us to remove it. I would love to see municipalities try and be better about glass waste. They have to try and make it easy as possible. Even for residents, we don't care if it's broken 香蕉视频直播� it's better to recycle it than throw it in the garbage."
He explained that around 30 per cent of all glass diverted to Enviro-Corp is from bottles, 50 per cent from Recycle BC and the curbside municipalities and the rest is random. Windows, windshields and both companies and individuals make up some of that random amount.
Despite the facility being in Abbotsford for almost 20 years, the City of Abbotsford is a relatively new contributor to the glass recycling program. The City began collecting curbside glass from homes in June and officials stated that the program in its early stages is running well.
"We香蕉视频直播檝e received positive feedback from residents who appreciate having a dedicated collection stream for glass," stated City spokesperson Melissa Godbout. "We continue to deliver glass collection bins to residents who didn香蕉视频直播檛 receive one during the initial distribution period. While it香蕉视频直播檚 too early to provide any metrics on the program, we anticipate participation rates to continue increasing as bin deliveries are completed. The City of Abbotsford partners with Recycle BC for all residential recycling services. As part of this partnership, Enviro-Corp was selected by Recycle BC as the designated post-collection facility for glass. This ensures that collected glass is processed in alignment with provincial recycling standards."
Naslund pointed out that enviro-rock also has the potential to last for a very long time. If it's used as a wearable surface it does have a temporary life and would likely be turned into a fine sand that then could be re-used for other purposes. If it's covered it can easily last for decades or more due to its durability.
For more information on Enviro-Corp Recycling and all they do, visit