Creative Recycling | Tempe Business Owner Helps Community
You have a glass of wine at home or at a restaurant; do you know where it goes after your done? Chances are, they are going to end up in a landfill. One local Arizona business owner has a creative way to not only make a living, but help the city of Tempe make a more creative and cost effective use out of old wine bottles.
Refresh Glass LLC, has taken up a business venture that creates glasses, candle holders, and vases out of used wine bottles. With just six employees, Refresh Glass has recently added another name to the company. Mac6 bought a portion of the Refresh Glass Company, which will help grow the business, and create more awareness and revenue to the company.
So who is the mind behind Refresh Glass?
Ray DelMuro is the founder of the company, Refresh Glass LLC, and he wanted to find a way to make use out of used wine bottles, instead of just discarding them into a landfill.
Where does Refresh Glass get its wine bottles?
Collecting over 15,000 bottles a month, Refresh Glass picks up wine bottles at local restaurants and bars that include: Pig & Pickle, Beckett’s Table, Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, and Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale to name a few.
Purchasing Refresh Glass’s products
Refresh Glass sells their products locally as well as nationally, including businesses like Amazon, Whole Foods, Wolfgang Puck, and a few national hotels. This is a great business plan that helps to decrease waste.
Long term goals of Refresh Glass
DelMuro is hoping to help Phoenix achieve the “40 by 20” initiative which is to divert 40 percent of the trash from landfills by 2020. That may seem like an ambitious goal, but with innovative companies like Refresh Glass paving the way, it might just happen.
The cost of the products created by Refresh Glass
Interested in purchasing products by Refresh Glass? They sell their glasses in packages of four 12-ounce glasses for $25, four 16-ounce glasses for $30. And if you’re interested in candleholders or planters, the candleholders go for $30 and Planters for $20.
Doing your part for the environment does not have to be solely philanthropic. There are progressive businesses out there that aim to foster the environment as well as obtain monetary success. Even if you aren't interested in recycled products, it is so simple to do your part on your own. Make sure that you are not disposing of anything that could be recycled.
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