Ahead of schedule, I-95’s temporary lanes are now back open after the tanker crash and explosion on June 11 that caused a section to collapse.
The speedy reopening is thanks in part to broken glass from South Jersey.
That’s right, recycled glass thrown into residential bins in Burlington County was used to pave the way to the new I-95. Mixed crushed glass is a part of “the fill” that was used to make the material for the foundation of the new interstate.
Burlington County receives 120-160 tons of glass from its residents in 40 towns every week.
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NBC10’s Cydney Long went behind the scene to see just how the recycled material was used.
When the glass is taken to the recycling center it is sorted, goes through a glass breaker and then onto a crusher room where it’s broken down into very small pieces.
Those pieces were used to make an aggregate material which was used to build the support system of the new I-95.
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That aggregate material is ultra-light foamed glass aggregate rocks made by AeroAggregates. Burlington County is one of the company’s major suppliers of recycled glass used to manufacture the rocks.
“It’s going to be something put back into our everyday lives, and actually fix something that was broken,” Tom Pullion, Burlington County Commissioner, Deputy Director, said. “We should be proud of the fact that something that we’re making is going into something so beneficial from a tragedy over in Philadelphia.”
Glass bottles and jars are among the materials that residents can and should place in their recycling carts. Labels can remain on jars and bottles but caps and lids should be removed and glass food containers should be rinsed.
“Every glass bottle and jar we toss into recycling containers matters, so we encourage our residents to continue to recycle right,” Pullion said.
