Public Service Commissioner hosts glass recycling contest for student councils

Sep. 1—ATLANTA- Commissioner Tim Echols, and his Commission colleague, Jason Shaw, announced Thursday a glass recycling contest for Student Councils throughout Georgia.

The contest runs until October 31, 2023. Participating schools will be rewarded with cash prizes with $2500 going to the winner.

"I participated in a contest like this when I was in high school," said Echols. "It taught me the value of recycling at a young age."

Echols said that most glass in Georgia is going into landfills taking up valuable space.

"Glass is 100 percent recyclable, but for a variety of reasons we can't seem to get it back to a glass facility for reuse," said Echols. "Commissioner Shaw and myself believe that students can play a role in changing this in Georgia."

All glass collected through this effort will be delivered to Arglass in Valdosta and will be made into new glass onsite.

"Arglass is an important facility in Georgia and they can play an important role in glass recycling for the entire state," said Shaw. "I am proud to help jumpstart this effort."

Shaw, who lives in the Valdosta area, said Arglass is a state-of-the-art facility with the ability to process as much clean glass as can be delivered there. Echols, long a supporter of Student Council leadership in Georgia, said the schools have to come up with a plan to do this on an ongoing basis.

"We want to reward schools for forward-thinking on glass recycling," said Echols. "Our efforts include an award ceremony at Zoo Atlanta for all participating councils."

Georgia Natural Gas is sponsoring the Awards ceremony at Zoo Atlanta on Wednesday, November 7, 2023 with free admission for 10 students from each school as well as two advisors. There the top 10 schools will be awarded with checks for their participation.

Schools wanting to participate need to sign up with Commissioner Echols by October 1, 2023. Glass collected will be delivered to McDonough, Georgia or Arglass on November 1, 2023. A caravan of electric vehicles including a Kenworth electric box truck supplied by MHC Kenworth will deliver the glass.

For more information, contact Faith Henning at fhenning@psc.ga.gov