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Profiles In Success
Recycling wasted glass into usable gravel
By Beth Taylor |
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| Ken Morrison is the third generation owner of Morrison Gravel in Port Orchard. |
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Ken Morrison is doing his best to sell less gravel to the government these days.
That might seem odd, considering that Morrison owns a Port Orchard gravel company. But Morrison Gravel has recently added a new service: recycling discarded glass into a gravel substitute. The idea is to turn trash into something useful.
The company has been working with Kitsap County on the project, which county officials hope will help them achieve their recycling goals. Morrison Gravel just finished its second job in the glass-crushing business, providing drainage material for a Randall Way intersection improvement. A month earlier, Morrison supplied glass for a parking lot and landscape beds at a new waste-transfer station.
“This keeps the glass out of the waste stream,” explains Morrison. “It’s kind of a neat thing, when you stand back and look at the end product. It’s convenient, it’s local, and it’s a good end use.”
All of which are understandable concerns for a company that’s been part of the community for more than a half-century. Morrison’s father, uncle and grandfather launched the business in 1946. Morrison himself took over the reins when his dad retired in 1991. But he didn’t start out at the top.
“I grew up in this business,” he relates. “I started working here in high school at about age 15, sweeping floors and shoveling gravel.”
At one time, the company offered general construction, site development and demolition landfill services. But when Morrison became boss, he focused his energies on trucking and material supply, for both commercial and residential projects. His topsoils, which he mixes from peat moss, mushroom compost and organic mulch, are very popular and have become a rapidly growing part of the firm’s business.
For Morrison, his company’s 12 employees and eight trucks are just the right size.
“Business opportunities have grown, but I’ve chosen to stay this size because what I do is manageable; I’m servicing my home area,” he says. Morrison and his wife, Charlene, who oversees the business end of things, live in Port Orchard. They have three sons.
Morrison Gravel’s primary territory is South Kitsap, though Morrison thinks the recycled glass will be used throughout the peninsula. The county is encouraging Kitsap’s cities to consider the glass for their construction projects.
“We’re trying to get all of the public works agencies in the area on board in using this,” he says.
County recycling coordinator Dave Peters says a state-appointed commission spent several years trying to find markets for recycled materials.
“After a series of tests, they came up with several ways that glass could be used in construction,” says Peters. “Where it’s really superior is in draining applications. Glass has more spaces between it than rounded stones, so it allows more water to move.”
The glass can be used for a variety of other construction purposes, such as in pipe bedding and underneath roads. Recycling glass into road projects makes good environmental sense, because the alternative is to ship it to Seattle, where a hefty stockpile is building up. The closest area with a high demand for glass is California, with its wineries, but the shipping costs are pricey.
“Glass doesn’t have a very high market value, so if we can use it locally, that helps keep the recycling program cost-effective,” Peters says. “The idea is, if everyone uses up the amount of glass in their jurisdiction, it will go away quickly.”
That’s good all the way around, for the county, the cities and the environment. And for Morrison, who has about $175,000 invested in glass-crushing equipment. He charges about $4 a cubic yard for the glass, which comes from recycling companies.
Recycled glass has proven successful in a number of construction projects in other parts of the state, including King County.
Says Morrison: “This is a new thing for Kitsap County, but it’s exciting that it’s starting to happen.”
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