Seattle recycling faces 'unprecedented challenges' as bottle maker closes

Utility officials say glass recycling in the Seattle area faces “unprecedented challenges” as the region’s main manufacturer of glass bottles shuts its doors.

The Ardagh Glass Packaging plant in Seattle’s Duwamish Valley shut down temporarily in July and permanently in November. The plant, a property of Luxembourg-based Ardagh Group, laid off 245 workers.

The multinational company blamed competition from subsidized bottle makers in China and those in Chile and Mexico.

Ardagh and United Steelworkers had petitioned the U.S. government for relief, but the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled in October that subsidized glass wine bottle imports from China were not materially threatening the U.S. industry.

Now, with no local buyers for recycled glass, Seattle Public Utilities is scrambling to find new markets for Seattle’s old glass.

“Glass is heavy and presents logistical challenges when it comes to transportation,” utility spokesperson Brad Wong said by email.

Wong said demand for recycled glass remains strong nationally and the utility and business partners are working to develop new customers and better rail transportation options for the heavy product.

For now, crushed glass is being stockpiled for future recycling.

Already, local glass processor Strategic Materials Inc. has stockpiled 6,000 tons of cleaned, sorted glass near Seattle’s South Transfer Station, according to Wong.

The utility urges customers to keep recycling their bottles and to make sure glass is clean and dry to maximize the quality of the recycled material.

Environmental activists in the Duwamish Valley said the Ardagh plant had long been one of the industrial valley’s worst polluters, with multiple violations of clean-air and clean-water laws, especially for emissions of heavy metals.

“Of course, we are very sad about the workers,” said Duwamish River Community Coalition director Paulina Lopez.

But she welcomed the reduction in heavy-metal pollution that the shutdown brings.

“It’s going to make a positive impact not to have that running every day,” Lopez said.