Watson Recycling is smashing glass barriers with new window recycling process
ROCHESTER — A local firm is putting Rochester on the map as one of the first U.S. cities where tons of architectural glass are being recycled instead of hauled to a landfill.
Infinite Recycled Technologies, an offshoot of Watson Recycling, is the only company in the U.S. that recycles architectural glass with its own patented processing machines. The machine separates the glass from plastic sandwiched between panes or windows with stainless steel casements.
This is a unique offering that is opening a brand new recycling market that could slow the tide of tons of glass being dumped in landfills.
"The great thing about this is that we can take what was a waste material and after we process it, we have a marketable product. It makes financial sense. It works and it does something good," said CEO Jeremiah Watson.
It is a business-to-business venture. Infinite then sells the processed glass, plastic and stainless steel materials as a commodity to companies that can use the raw material to make other products.
In 2020, Infinite started by recycling glass from firms like Hayfield Windows and K&M Glass. On average, a mid-sized manufacturer could send an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 tons of laminated glass to the landfill each year.
It started with a prototype architectural glass processing operation in a 65,000-square-foot warehouse space in Albert Lea. Infinite has since opened processing facilities in Florida and New York.
"We've grown a lot. In our first year in Albert Lea, we processed about 8,000 to 10,000 tons. We expect to do around 150,000 tons in 2025," said Watson.
Infinite, which now has 40 employees at the three sites, recently opened a window into a larger source of architectural glass — collecting glass on-site at construction projects. The first construction site collections happened in New York City this year.
In November, Infinite started a similar on-site project in Rochester.
An Infinite/Watson trailer now stands by a project in downtown Rochester at the site of a commercial window replacement project at a parking ramp on Third Avenue Northwest. The owner of the ramp declined to be named.
"They are taking out all the old glass and putting in the new," said Infinite's President of Business Development Patrick Elmore. "This is perfect for recycling, because they're taking it out perfectly anyway. So instead of loading the old glass into their trailer, they just put it in ours."
That means that the contractor is having the glass hauled away at no cost. A typical trailer can hold about eight to 10 tons of glass. Watson estimated that hauling a trailer like that plus dumping fees at landfill could add up to an expense of $800 to $1,000 for the contractor.
Watson and Elmore believe this is just the start of the growth of this type of recycling business. They hope to eventually be able to collect glass at demolition projects. That is currently challenging because demo contractors do not often remove individual panes of glass.
"They (demo contractors) are getting paid to do it as quickly as possible. That usually means knocking everything down with a wrecking ball, scooping it all up and hauling it out," explained Elmore. "That means removing glass and loading it into a trailer is an extra labor cost."
They are optimistic that contractors will start seeing the benefit in their free service as they start working on more construction sites. Infinite could also see a boost as many cities and states are adding regulations to require more recycling of construction materials.
To help grow the architectural glass recycling business, Infinite is working on the fourth upgrade version of the processing machine to speed up the process and to automate it more.
Watson's family has been involved with waste disposal and recycling, since the 1800s.
When Rochester documented its first city landfill in the 1890s, William Watson — Jeremiah's great-great-grandfather was appointed as the "chief scavenger." His job was to go through the dump and pull out anything that could be reused or sold for raw material.
Watson's grandfather and father — Rodney Watson and Glen Watson — also worked with trash and recycling. Glen Watson now serves as president of the recycling operation that launched in 2006 with many of his 16 children working for the company.
In 2011, the family more than tripled the size of Watson Recycling by building a $3.5 million facility on 12 acres at 81st Street, just beyond Rochester's northern border. The firm had maxed out its former Rochester facility on North Broadway. They added whole car recycling and began accepting ferrous metals at the new site.
"He (his father Glen Watson) is extremely proud to see how the family is growing the company," said Jeremiah Watson.
