This summer, the Dingman Center will be conducting interviews with the fifteen student startups who are participating in our Terp Startup summer accelerator at the College Park WeWork. Participating student entrepreneurs received a stipend up to $5,000 that would enable them to work exclusively on their startups over eight weeks in the summer.

Break Box Recycling Inc.

Founder & CEO: Ryan Perpall ’20, Environmental Anthropology

DC: Tell us about your startup. What problem are you solving and for whom?

Perpall: Although glass containers can be recycled endlessly, without losing strength or purity, they are the number one contaminators of recycled paper, plastic and aluminum. Removing post-consumer glass from the recycling stream helps other items retain their post-market value, and lowers the contamination level in county Material Recovery Facilities.

Our solution is to divert post-consumer glass away from the landfill and towards alternative end-markets that include glass artists, construction companies, & homeowners. Our most notable glass diversion operation is our Bottle Throwing Trailer. We built an outdoor, mobile unit that allows people (18+) to break glass containers by throwing them against a ‘break wall’ inside the trailer. We provide break games, music and LED lights to enhance the break experience. All of the glass broken at the Bottle Throwing trailer is barreled up and repurposed for use in the construction industry or by local glass artists. 

Continue reading →