Winecast 70: Ray DelMuro of Refresh Glass and recycling wine bottles

“People tell me they recycle wine bottles because of the way it makes them feel, but they ignore the economic realities of recycling.”

Ray DelMuro of Refresh Glass in the Phoenix area may know as much abut wine bottle recycling as anyone. His company has been doing it for 15 years, works with hundreds of thousands of bottles a year (soon to become millions), and keeps expanding. Currently, his company takes in glass from across the west coast.

So believe DelMuro when he says that glass recycling rates are so poor (less than one-third) because it’s an expensive, bulky, and awkward business, especially when compared to other recyclables. Paper and aluminum can be bundled and are relatively light and easy to load and transport, for instance; glass is none of those.

In fact, we had a fine discussion talking about why recycling economics are so crucial to the process, as well what wine drinkers can do to help:

• If you want to do more than leave your bottles on the curb, find a glass recycler in your area. Put the bottles in a box (preferably the one they came in), and make sure to remove the cork or screwcap.

• One key to expanded wine bottle recycling is finding new uses for recycled glass. These include fiberglass home siding, road building materials, and other construction uses.

• There is an urgency in the industry to improve that recycling rate, and more money is available for research and new technologies.

Click here to download or stream the podcast, which is about 17 1/2 minutes long and takes up 12 megabytes. Sound quality is very good to excellent.