December 2003

Glass Wall Beautifies Waste Facility
by Mary E. Hill

The Sonoma County Department of Transportation and Public Works is taking waste diversion very seriously. The administration building at the central landfill exemplifies that fact.

The environmentally conscious facility makes it clear to visitors that recycling is a priority right from the moment you pull into a parking space. The wheel stops themselves were created using 70% post-consumer recycling plastic. The manufacturing process that was used to develop them allows a mixture of various plastics to be incorporated without costly sorting.

As you enter the building, the entryway is tiled with flooring made of old windshields from trucks, cars and airplanes, as well as glass scrap. The carpeting is composed of recycled plastic soda bottles and even the walls are covered with recycled latex paint.

The most charming feature of the building is the wall constructed with wine bottles. The green and amber bottles were cut in half, taped and then caulked with silicone, forming a beautiful, sturdy wall.

The design and concept for the bottle wall was originally used in an area of the landfill dubbed Recycletown. Recycletown is operated under contract by an organization called Garbage Reincarnation.

The yard at Recycletown features buildings made from discarded building materials and is designed to look like a frontier town. Volunteers from the area built the entire project. Their goal was to inspire Recycletown visitors to incorporate the building ideas in their own endeavors.

The two main buildings are pole barns, and have official permits from the building department. The electronics building features the bottle wall that inspired Sonoma County to create one of their own.