With a crash and a tinkle, hundreds of glass bottles are on their way to recycling—and out of the landfill.
Keep Blount Beautiful helps local businesses and households recycle all sorts of materials, far beyond glass. But the glass recycling program is one of the newest and biggest of their many green initiatives.
In 2022, Blount County purchased a glass pulverizer, which Keep Blount Beautiful Executive Director Brittney Whipple called a “milestone.” Previously, many communities had been eliminating glass recycling. This pulverizer “allows Blount County to process 10 tons of glass waste an hour and use the byproduct in local projects,” Whipple explained.
Getting the glass to the county’s recycling center can pose a problem, however, especially for bars and restaurants. Such businesses “accumulate a large amount of glass waste each day,” Whipple noted. “Glass waste from these establishments is contributing to the 425 tons of waste that enters the landfill each day.”
Landfilled waste only takes up space, she said. But glass “is completely and infinitely recyclable and reusable when disposed of sustainably.”
And that’s where Keep Blount Beautiful comes in, with funding from the Arconic Foundation. Whipple and volunteers gather glass from local bars and restaurants each week. They deliver the bottles to the Blount County recycling facility.
Whipple said, “Keep Blount Beautiful provides the missing link between participating businesses and the Blount County Recycling Center.” This program helps “to save landfill space, reduce the use of natural resources, and increase opportunities for recycling and reuse.”
Since the program started in February 2025, Keep Blount Beautiful has collected nearly 6,000 pounds of glass for recycling.
The county’s recycling program, managed by the Blount County Highway Department, pulverizes glass on-site at the McArthur Road facility. Whipple explained that the glass byproduct substitutes for aggregate in roadwork projects. Larger particles, ⅜-inch gravel, “can be used as shoulderstone, pipe bedding, underlay and more,” she said. Finer material “can be used for grouting, landscaping, and sandblasting, just to name a few.”
The Highway Department is collaborating with the University of Tennessee on new ways to use the recycled glass. They are investigating its value in road striping and soil amendments.
The recycling program doesn’t only save landfill space. It also saves taxpayer money, Whipple said, “by replacing materials that would normally have to be mined and purchased” at public expense.
Keep Blount Beautiful initiated the program and administers it, including finding local businesses to participate. “We are so fortunate to have recruited Bella, Amici, RT Lodge and Southland Cafe/The Bird and the Book without a fight!” Whipple said.
They purchased a vehicle and provided restaurants and bars with recycling bins to collect their glass waste. With the cooperation of the Highway Department staff, Keep Blount Beautiful staff and volunteers pick up the glass and transport it to the Operations Center, then deliver bins back to the businesses.
The program requires volunteers to assist with recycling. If you are interested, contact Whipple at director@keepblountbeautiful.org.
The Glass Waste Diversion Program is more than the recycling itself, however. “A big part of the program involves public education and involvement,” Whipple said. She reminds the community that “anyone can drop off glass waste” in the “Glass Only” bin at the county Recycling Center (331 Levi St., around the corner from the Operations Center). Although people don’t need to sort the glass by color or remove the labels, they do need to remove any caps and lids before recycling.
While this program focuses on glass specifically, the county recycles a number of other materials at the center, including plastics, cardboard, mixed paper, newspaper, and household hazardous waste. Check out Keep Blount Beautiful’s website for full information.
In addition, their mission extends far beyond recycling, Whipple said. The organization works “to educate and encourage Blount County residents to take action to improve and beautify their community.” Many people recognize the Adopt-A-Mile initiative, which is “great for volunteer visibility,” Whipple said, thanks to the signs along local roadways.
Another regular program are litter cleanups, perhaps Keep Blount Beautiful’s most visible work, she added, “because anyone driving by can see our volunteers working in yellow vests.” Other programs focus on waste disposal and recycling, environmental education and beautification.
Keep Blount Beautiful “could not fulfill its mission without volunteers, community partners, local governments, and funders, Whipple said; “Nothing KBB does is possible without local support!”
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