Rumpke Recycling Dayton renovates mixed glass processing facility

Ohio-based Rumpke Waste & Recycling Dayton has used the occasion of America Recycles Day to reveal a $1 million renovation at its mixed glass recycling center Nov. 15, 2016.

“As the region’s recycling leader, Rumpke Waste & Recycling is always actively researching new opportunities to keep our landfills small and recycling efforts growing,” said Mike Bramkamp, regional vice president at Rumpke, at the opening.

“We are honored to have the city of Dayton and the Ohio EPA’s support in this effort, both assisted by providing a collaborative $50,000 grant,” Bramkamp said.

Annually, Rumpke Recycling’s Dayton glass facility processes 60,000 tons of broken glass. The recovered material is processed into raw materials for fiberglass insulation and glass container manufacturing.

Steve Sargent, Rumpke director of recycling, said, “The glass we process at this site is collected from curbside and commercial recycling customers throughout Rumpke’s service regions in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Glass makes up 15 to 20 percent of the recycling that is collected. By creating this system, Rumpke has developed the infrastructure to reduce the amount of trash going to the landfill while creating jobs and raw materials needed by our manufacturers.”

Facility renovations, including extended conveyors, an enhanced dust collection system and technology to remove fines, such as paper labels, dust, dirt and other organic material, from the glass, are designed to add consistency to the process and to ensure a cleaner end product for manufacturers, the company says.

Rumpke Recycling Dayton Glass Processing also has received intellectual and research support from the University of Dayton, with students joining Rumpke professionals to assess the process and material quality and to identify improvements.

Headquartered near Cincinnati, Rumpke was established in 1932 and is one of the nation’s largest privately owned residential and commercial waste and recycling firms, providing service to areas of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia. Rumpke divisions include Rumpke Recycling, The William-Thomas Group and Rumpke Hydraulics.