Innovation & Technology

Pilot Study Uses Recycled Glass to Grow Salsa Ingredients, Protect Coastlines

The researchers think adding glass to soil could help prevent wind erosion in coastal regions and ecosystems whose preservation is an increasingly valuable aspect of climate resilience.

Published 2 months ago | About a 5 minute read

Image: Tesa Robbins

Researchers at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley are conducting experiments to see if glass waste can replace a depleting natural resource and support sustainable agriculture.

In a recent study, the team reports that growing certain food crops in recycled glass from discarded, pulverized bottles — such as those from beer or soda. The pilot study found that partially substituting soil in a planter with recycled-glass fragments can speed up plant development and reduces unwanted fungal growth.

The researchers present their results this week at the Fall 2024 meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), Aug. 18-22 — which features about 10,000 presentations on a range of science topics.

When nanomaterial scientist Julie Vanegas joined the faculty at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, she was paired with faculty mentor Teresa Patricia Feria Arroyo — an ecologist who works on problems related to food security and sustainability. During their early conversations, Vanegas mentioned that she’d been assessing recycled-glass particles for use in coastal-restoration projects — such as one studied by Louisiana’s Tulane University in 2022 — and Feria wondered if glass could also be used for growing produce.

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To answer the question, the two developed experiments for growing popular food ingredients that mature quickly and can be cultivated in container and backyard gardens: They chose cilantro, bell pepper and jalapeño — key ingredients in pico de gallo.

“We’re trying to reduce landfill waste at the same time as growing edible vegetables,” says Andrea Quezada, a chemistry graduate student in the Nanoworld Vanegas lab who is presenting the team’s research at the Fall meeting. “If this is viable, then we might be able to introduce glass-based soils into agricultural practices for people here in the Rio Grande Valley and across the country.”

Image credit: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

As ACS explains in this video, putting recycled glass to use as a sustainable soil amendment could help address three problems:

glass waste in landfills — according to the EPA, we only recycle about 31 percent of glass in the US; non-recycled glass represents about 5 percent (7.6 million tons) of the waste in US landfills each year.
soil erosion — average soil erosion rates by wind and water in the US are roughly 4.63 tons per acre per year, with total soil loss of 1.70 billion tons; the UDSA estimates the US loses about $44 billion each year from soil erosion.
sand shortage — around the world, billions of tons of sand are extracted per year for various uses; according to UNEP, it drives erosion, flooding, the salination of aquifers and the collapse of coastal defenses.

The researchers hope that the addition of glass to soil at scale will help prevent wind erosion in areas such as the Rio Grande Valley, on Texas’ eastern coast, and other coastal regions and ecosystems susceptible to erosion and whose preservation is an increasingly valuable aspect of climate resilience.

For their experiments, the researchers got recycled-glass particles from a company that diverts bottles from landfills, crushes them into particles and tumbles the pieces to round off the edges. The final product is smooth enough that people can handle the glass bits without getting cut, Quezada says. Similarly, plant roots can easily grow around the glass pieces without being harmed.

In initial tests, the researchers assessed the soil-like qualities — such as compaction and water retention — of three different sizes of glass fragments. They found that a size similar to coarse sand grains allowed oxygen to reach the roots and maintain sufficient moisture levels that could be ideal for plant cultivation.

Now, Quezada is evaluating the recycled-glass material as a viable substitute for soil. In a greenhouse on campus, she’s growing cilantro, bell pepper and jalapeño plants in a variety of pots containing anywhere from 100 percent commercial potting soil to 100 percent recycled glass. Pots with more soil have higher levels of nutrients required for plant growth — including nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium — compared to those with more glass. But there’s little variation in pH level among the pots — which is a promising result, because plants thrive in a narrow soil pH range.

Early results also suggest that the plants grown in recyclable glass have faster growth rates and retain more water, compared to those grown in 100 percent traditional soil.

“A weight ratio of more than 50 percent of glass particles to soil appears best for plant growth compared to the other mixtures we tested,” Vanegas says — though the researchers are waiting until harvest time to confirm which soil mixture produces the highest yields and tastiest produce.

Another noteworthy result is that pots with 100 percent potting soil developed a fungus that stunted plant growth; Feria hypothesizes the fungus may impact nutrient uptake by the roots. Pots that included any amount of recyclable glass had zero fungal growth. The researchers are collecting data to determine potential reasons for this.

Quezada says these results are particularly promising because the study was done without fertilizers, pesticides or fungicides. From her experience working in agriculture, she notes that a lot of the chemicals applied to crops and land can harm people — including her family members and the roughly 2.4 million farm workers and communities surrounding farms in the US alone.

“It's really important to try to minimize the usage of any chemicals that can negatively affect our health,” Quezada asserts. “If we are able to reduce them, and help the community by collecting recyclables, then we can give people a better quality of life.”

The research was funded by an Empowering Future Agricultural Scientists grant from the US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and a US National Science Foundation grant that’s also supporting Glass Half Full — the community-focused recycling organization that supplied the glass particles.