Flagler Beach, FL Launches a New Recycling Program

The City of Flagler Beach, Mayor Suzie Johnston, and Sanitation Director Rob Smith launched a new recycling program that will not only benefit their local environment, but also improve their economy. 

 

 

 

The Problem

Flagler Beach, FL needed a new recycling program to help eliminate recyclable materials being thrown away into the landfills. The residents felt that glass is a sustainable resource, and throwing it away seemed like a waste. In an interview with local press FlaglerLive, Sanitation Director Rob Smith felt as if, “he went from villain to hero when he initially proposed to the commission board to cease all recycling, because the city couldn’t recycle most products, therefore ending up in the trash landfills anyway.” After the resident’s disapproval, Smith came up with the idea of purchasing a glass crusher, as the start of a long-term solution to start recycling. 

 

The Goals

The main goal was to start a new recycling program, embarking on the new initiative starting April 2022. Doing so, they planned to purchase a glass crusher, recycling machine to positively impact the environment, while creating new products for Flagler Beach residents to use and enjoy. The ultimate goal was to have a complete recycling center on site to recycle 100 percent of their own products, so everyone knows exactly how it is being used and where it’s going.

 

The Solution

The City of Flagler Beach purchased their glass crusher system from Andela Products, and nicknamed it “Big Blue”. According to Ask Flagler, Mayor Johnston stated, “We are proud that the City of Flagler Beach runs our own recycling program and that residents’ items are truly recycled. We’ll now be able to recycle more than 12 tons of glass a week.” The machine turns all glass into pulverized glass cullet/glass sand that produces no sharp edges. The city plans to use it in public works projects, or sell them to residents, to start generating some sort of revenue. 

 

Conclusion

We at Andela are so thankful to help Flagler Beach with their new glass crushing system. The machine is the only one operating in the state, but we hope that will change as time moves forward. As of now, the city is only selling their products to residents of Flagler Beach and Beverly Beach. But we know that as good news travels, we anticipate that surrounding cities and states will also grow interested in our systems. We are always here to help.