Don’t Trash Glass partners with glass suppliers in Colorado and Kentucky

Don’t Trash Glass, an initiative founded by Phoenix-based Glass King Recovery and Recycling and the Arlington, Virginia-based Glass Packaging Institute (GPI), has announced glass recycling partnerships in Denver and Bardstown, Kentucky.

Bars, restaurants and hospitality venues in Denver will now be able to recycle glass bottles and jars through the Don’t Trash Glass program, thanks to its partnership with Perrysburg, Ohio-based O-I Glass and Wheat Ridge, Colorado-based Rocky Mountain Bottle Co. (RMBC).

Glass bottles and jars are separated by color and turned into cullet at Broomfield-based Glass to Glass. Glass then heads to O-I Glass in Windsor or RMBC to be made into recycled-content bottles.

“Glass is never trash,” says Robert Hippert, sustainability strategy leader at O-I Glass. “Glass packaging is a valuable resource that, when recycled, provides economic, environmental and social value to our shared communities. When we let glass packaging slip through our recycling systems and into our landfills, we are throwing away potential processing jobs, increasing costs related to packaging production and depriving ourselves of a local supply chain of recycled glass that reduces raw material demand, emissions and energy consumption associated with packaging production.”

A 2024 sustainability report highlights O-I’s conservation of nearly 145,000 tons of glass driven by 44 closed-loop partnership programs, like Don’t Trash Glass. 

“Glass is a circular material, and glass recycling is best when it is a regional program,” GPI President Scott DeFife says. “There are much greater environmental and cost savings when transportation stays within a region. Don’t Trash Glass helps to collect clean glass from commercial facilities that are disposing of this material and will stay in the state where glass is made and used by Colorado end-markets.”

Denver Arts & Venues is participating in the Don’t Trash Glass program, piloting glass recycling at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and the Denver Arts Complex.

Businesses in the Don’t Trash Glass program are provided indoor containers, thanks to a sponsorship with Busch Systems, and outdoor containers for separated bottle collection.

In Kentucky, Don’t Trash Glass has partnered with Bardstown, Kentucky-based Barton 1792 Distillery, a Sazerac Co. company, to recover glass bottles used in its bourbon production process.  

“Barton 1792 is constantly evaluating opportunities to reduce waste, and we are excited to be a part of this initiative,” says Lonny Bess, Barton 1792 Distillery plant general manager.

Last spring, the Don’t Trash Glass program launched in Kentucky through a partnership with Bulleit Frontier Whiskey.

“We rely on strong partners in this program,” DeFife says. “Through Sazerac’s partnership, we are helping them meet sustainability goals and lighten their waste costs by recycling glass bottles and containers used on-site in a regional circular recycling solution.”

Founded in Phoenix in 2018, Don’t Trash Glass partners with regional glass suppliers to divert glass bottles and packaging from landfills. A subsequent pilot program launched in Chicago in 2021.

“Our partners can see the impact of their commitment on local businesses and the circularity of bottles,” says Rose King, chief operating officer at Glass King Recovery and Recycling. “We look forward to signing on local businesses looking for glass recycling solutions.”