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King County
Recycled Product Experience:

Recycled Cullet, Roads Division

Product and recycled content Mixed-color glass; 100% recycled glass cullet
Application Retaining wall backfill
replaces gravel
Location/Date SE 128th St at 164th Ave SE
Tukwila, WA (King County); October, 1995
Project manager/user Luke Korpi, Environmental Engineer
Roads Division, (206)296-8760
Architect/Engineer Dan Dovey, Engineer
King County Roads Division, (206)296- 8883
General Contractor West Coast Construction Company
Palmer Sather, (206)483- 1900
Background, history The potential for using this product was determined through several sources (i.e. Clean Washington Center)
Performance The product performed equally in this application. There are relatively minor differences in product handling and construction methods.
Source of material Waste Management of Seattle
(206)762-3000
Quantity 438 cubic yards;
5/8" minus glass cullet
Cost $6.00 cubic yard versus $12.00 for gravel.
Cost savings or increase Construction cost savings approximately $1,800
No difference in long-term maintenance costs, etc.
Installation, costs/savings Slightly longer installation time, due primarily to Contractor's unfamiliarity with the material
Source of extra funds $4,000; Grant from the King County Commission for Marketing Recyclable Materials (206) 296-4366
Would you buy this product again? Yes.
Why or why not? The product performed equally to the non-recycled product.
Comments There is some uncertainty about the cost and availability of the product in the future.

Specifications: Glass Cullet

The specification for cullet that was used for this project was adopted from WSDOT's June 1, 1994 amendment to the Standard Specifications. The specification is as follows:
Aggregate composed solely of glass shall be used as gravel backfill for walls.
One hundred percent of the glass shall pass a 3/4 inch square sieve and not more than 5 percent by mass shall pass a U.S. No. 200 sieve. Sieve analyses shall be conducted according to WSDOT Test Method 103-C on at least a quarterly basis by the product supplier. All test results shall be kept on file by the product supplier.
The maximum debris level shall be 10 percent. Debris is defined as any deleterious material which impacts the performance of the engineered fill and includes all nonglass constituents of the glass feed stock. The percentage of debris in cullet shall be quantified using the following visual method. Approximately 200 grams of processed cullet shall be placed in a flat pan or plate. The percentage of debris shall be estimated using AGI Data Sheets 15.1 and 15.2 "Comparison Charts for Estimating Percentage Composition," by the American Geological Institute, 1982.
Total lead content testing shall be performed quarterly by the product supplier. Tests shall include a minimum of 5 samples. Sample collection shall be conducted according to ASTM D 75. The mean of these tests shall not exceed 80 ppm. Total lead content testing will be conducted according to EPA Method 3010/6010. All test results shall be kept on file by the product supplier.

Lead content testing was performed to ensure that any non-glass constituents of the cullet were not toxic.

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Updated: August 11, 1998

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