Glass Half Full and St. Bernard Economic Development Foundation Partner on Free Glass Recycling Pilot Initiative
ST. BERNARD PARISH, LA – A pilot program to expand glass recycling to businesses in St. Bernard could help divert thousands of pounds of bottles from the landfill – all while working towards protecting the rapidly eroding Louisiana coastline.
St. Bernard Economic Development Foundation has received a grant through Keep Louisiana Beautiful in collaboration with Chalmette-based glass recycling organization Glass Half Full, which collects glass bottles around the Gulf South and converts them into sustainable sand for coastal restoration projects and other uses. Since its founding in 2020, Glass Half Full has recycled over 14,000,000 pounds of glass. The grant covers the costs of recycling services for three months as well as all setup and onboarding costs.
Franziska Trautmann, founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, said that she’s thrilled to finally be able to offer businesses the opportunity to pilot the program across the Parish.
"St. Bernard Parish is long overdue for funding to support recycling initiatives," Trautmann said. "We're so excited to bring a successful program like Raise The Bar to the Parish! I can't wait to see all of the legendary bars that join in."
SBEDF received a $7,000 grant for the project from Keep Louisiana Beautiful, an agency under Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser's office focused on litter prevention, beautification, and recycling. The initiative begins October 1st and runs through the end of the year. After that, they can decide whether to pay for the services at a special reduced rate specifically for businesses in Chalmette.
"Glass Half Full is a fantastic partner and community asset,” says Rhett Pritchard, SBEDF Business & Community Development Manager and Keep St. Bernard Beautiful board member. “We're excited to see recycling initiatives such as this expanding into the parish, and we hope to foster even more of these efforts in the future. We're happy that Keep Louisiana Beautiful could help make this possible."
Pritchard adds that the SBEDF is excited to see how this program goes and hopefully will be reapplying for the same grant in the Spring to add even more businesses to the roster.
The first business to join through this grant is Rocky and Carlo's. "We're thrilled to have brought on such an institution like Rocky's, which represents a long history of restaurant culture in the Parish," says Ricky Ostry, who is heading up the initiative for Glass Half Full. "Suffice it to say, Tommy has a lot of root beer bottles we're keeping out of the landfill!"
Ostry also said that most establishments continue the glass recycling program after completing similar pilots. The program offers recycling pickups from monthly to a few times a week, depending on the size of the bar or restaurant. Jessica Reab, owner of Brewster's, has also been working with Glass Half Full since March of 2025. In that time, the restaurant has recycled over 13,000 pounds of glass!
Glass Half Full is aiming to collect more than 30,000 pounds of glass through this pilot initiative. In addition to this pilot, there are free glass recycling drop offs for residents across the city, with the main St. Bernard hub at Docville Farms at 5124 E St Bernard Highway in Violet. More can be found at glasshalffull.co.
To learn more about the project or to get a business involved, reach out to Ricky Ostry at ricky@glasshalffull.co or 504-481-4672.
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About Glass Half Full
Glass Half Full is a Chalmette-based recycling company turning glass waste into sustainable sand for disaster relief, eco-construction, and coastal restoration. Since its founding in 2020, the company has been at the forefront of sustainability innovation in the Gulf South. For more information, visit glasshalffull.co.
About St. Bernard Economic Development Foundation
St. Bernard Economic Development Foundation (SBEDF) is the official economic development organization and public-private partnership of St. Bernard Parish formed to create and retain jobs, build prosperity, and improve quality of life. To learn more about SBEDF and how the organization works to foster business attraction, retention and expansion, neighborhood revitalization, small business assistance, and talent and workforce development in St. Bernard Parish, sbedf.org.