NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Recycling glass in Arkansas is about to become more convenient because of a new glass recycling plant that is coming to North Little Rock.
Right off Highway 165 in North Little Rock is where you’ll find the site for the new glass recycling plant. The founder of Epic Glass Recycling and President of Ace Glass explained how the facility as a whole will benefit our state in several ways.
“This will be the first facility in Central Arkansas, really in the state to recycle glass products,” Courtney Little said.
Little said having the plant will save money and create more convenience for Arkansans.
“The ultimate goal was to do something with glass and glass does have value, but only if you process it and do something with it locally, by the time you ship it out of state, all the value that was in it goes to the shipping cost,” he added.
He also said it will save money on road construction across the state.
“There’s already a couple of projects in the state that use it, but they had to buy it from Florida. So if we have it here. It’s cheaper, better for the projects,” he explained.
In addition to cutting down on shipping costs, Little said it will also cut down on waste.
“If people don’t have a good place to put it, it goes in the trash, maybe or it ends up under our you know on the roads and roadsides. So we’re just trying to find a place to, you know, put it back to work,” he said.
He plans to create even more glass drop-off sites to encourage people to recycle.
“We’re trying to find some local commercial partners that have they’re in the traffic pattern you’re going by anyways, you are going there to shop anyways, that’s a convenient place to drop off your glass when you’re going in to do something,” he said.
Meanwhile, he’s been actively working to have the plant up and running in early 2024.
The plant will also create at least 30 new jobs.
Credit: Brooke Buckner, THV11
