Editor’s note: This is the third and final installment of glassBYTEs’ windshield recycling series. See the next issue of AGRR magazine for a more in-depth exploration of the topic.
Shop owners who want to recycle windshields are largely dependent on how close they are to a glass recycling facility that accepts laminated automotive glass. Those who can recycle have found ways to offset the costs.
There aren’t many windshield recycling facilities in the United States. According to their websites, two of the biggest auto glass recycling companies in the U.S., Dlubak Glass and Shark Solutions, have only eight locations combined. Dlubak Glass has facilities in Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas, while Shark Solutions has locations in Georgia, California and Pennsylvania.
Wyndshyld, an auto glass business in East Cobb, Georgia, is close enough to a facility for owner Glenn Fell to make it work.
Glenn Fell says he’s taken Wyndshyld’s old laminated glass to the same facility in Georgia for about 5 years.
Fell says he’s been going to the facility, which is about two hours away, for around five years. At first, the company picked up Wyndshyld’s old glass. The recycler eventually stopped coming to get the windshields, Fell says, so he took a different approach.
The business puts all the broken windshields and any other laminated glass into a 5-foot by 10-foot trailer. When that trailer is full, Fell either pays someone to haul it to the facility or takes it himself. It’s extra work, but he says it pays off. Not only does recycling allow him to do his part for sustainability, it also helps him make a little extra profit.
Fell adds a small additional fee per replacement to offset the extra time and effort of hauling the windshields. Those fees can be an additional revenue source, too. Once he subtracts the trailer’s capital expenditure and other costs associated with the trip, there’s some money left over.
“It is a little bit of a profit center for me,” Fell says. “The only caveat is insurance doesn’t typically cover that charge.”
Fell says that hasn’t created a problem so far. Customers don’t complain about paying a few extra dollars, especially when he emphasizes the importance of windshield recycling. Fell says Wyndshyld is one of the few companies in his market that recycles old auto glass, and that stands out to customers.
Zuhair Madanat, owner of Auto Glass Experts in North Carolina, wants to recycle the old windshields from his two shops. He’s found that difficult because his shops are a few hours away from the closest facility.
In Auto Glass Expert’s early days, Madanat contacted recycling facilities in hopes of giving them his old glass. They told him his company was too small for them to bring a container for his glass or collect it.
Because the facility is so far away, Madanat couldn’t realistically bring the glass to the recyclers, either. He still wants to do his part for the environment, though.
“I’ve always been someone who enjoys recycling in general,” he says. “I like to do as much as I can because it’s a little work for a lot of good.”
Madanat is currently looking for a solution that doesn’t involve him hauling glass across the state. He hopes to find a way to recycle soon.
