MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — A brand new $14,000 machine is getting put to work, right on Georgia College's campus.
Baldwin County is making strides with this glass-crushing machine.
Georgia College junior Ally Esmond found her passion for recycling during an environmental science academy program in high school.
"That piqued my interest into recycling, sustainability, as well as water purification systems," said Edmond
Then during her sophomore year at Georgia College's college, she learned about an internship with their sustainability office where they were just getting their hands on a brand new glass recycling machine.
Edmond said, "It's not something you usually hear about like glass crushing, so it was an exciting time."
Skinner said, "It's great that we can now accept glass!"
Sustainability Assistant Cameron Skinner told me the process uses two pieces of equipment: One crushes the glass, the other sifts the particles into five grades.
Skinner also said, "You know, there is data collection and reporting that goes into this as well and we want to capture the poundage of glass to be able to convert that into an environmental impact."
Right now, Esmond operates the machine and then the team brainstorms what they are going to do with the byproduct.
"We are still discovering new ways to use the product, you know it could be used recreationally," said Skinner. "We talked about constructing a new volleyball court out of the sand and we've also been using it in our West Campus garden."
According to Georgia College's Chief Sustainability Officer Lori Hamilton, the machine has economic benefits as well.
Hamilton said, "We reduce the cost for the university hauling and disposing fees, and we are making the environment better by keeping it out of the landfill."
In the coming weeks, students can expect to see collection containers around campus for drop-off.
Esmond told us they will accept glass soda bottles, yogurt jars, and glass sauce containers.
For now, they are accepting only donations from the campus community.
However, they are exploring ways to use the byproduct around the Milledgeville community.