What Infinite Recycled Technologies does

Infinite Recycled Technologies (IRT) is a privately held glass recycling company and subsidiary of Watson Recycling, a family-owned Minnesota waste and recycling business tracing back to the 1890s. IRT was formed in 2019 and launched operations in January 2020 from a 65,000-square-foot facility in Albert Lea, Minnesota, to commercialize a proprietary machine that separates the plastic interlayer from glass in laminated and architectural glass — a capability no other North American company possesses. The machine also removes glue and metals from insulated glass, producing clean cullet in sizes ranging from dust to small pebbles plus recovered plastic usable as inputs for fiberglass, reflective road striping, sandblasting abrasives, carpet backing, adhesives, and new glass products.

The company's business model is B2B enterprise services. IRT contracts directly with glass and window manufacturers (including Hayfield Windows, K&M Glass, Hentages Glass, and an unnamed top-tier U.S. glass manufacturer) to pick up waste glass from production lines with failure rates of 10–25%, processes it at its facilities, and either returns recovered commodities to manufacturers or sells them into commodity markets via direct contracts and rail shipment. Pricing is quote-based and negotiated per customer, with revenue from processing fees (alternative to landfill tipping fees) plus commodity sales of cullet and plastic. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales with industry trade shows (GlassBuild America), podcast appearances, and earned media.

IRT is expanding its regional hub-and-spoke footprint beyond the Midwest to Florida (Ocala, launched 2020), New York (planned), Texas, and overseas to address hurricane-impacted laminated glass and growing sustainability demand. The company has received the 2021 USGlass Magazine Green Award and related individual sustainability recognition for Patrick Elmore, and parent Watson Recycling received the 2017 SBA Minnesota Family-Owned Business of the Year award. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed external institutional investment.

Name

Infinite Recycled Technologies

Legal name

Infinite Recycled Technologies

Website

https://infiniterecycledtech.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Infinite Recycled Technologies is a B2B glass recycler and subsidiary of Watson Recycling, operating the only North American facility capable of separating laminated glass into clean cullet and recovered plastic. It serves glass and window manufacturers with quote-based processing services, selling recovered commodities to downstream manufacturers and expanding regionally from Minnesota to Florida, New York, and Texas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Glass Recycling Services

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (562920)

SIC

Glass Products, Made Of Purchased Glass (3231)

akta.pro primary industry

Glass Processing & Beneficiation Facilities (EUAIADAF)

Keywords

• Glass recycling services
• Laminated glass processing
• Architectural glass recycling
• Glass cullet production
• Materials recycling technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Albert Lea

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Glass Recycling Processing Services: B2B venture where Infinite contracts with manufacturers to take their waste glass. Processed material is sold as commodity to companies that can use the raw material to make other glass and plastic products. Companies pay for recycling services as alternative to landfill fees.
2. Processed Material Sales: Processed glass and plastic separated from laminated glass sold as commodities. Glass can be used for fiberglass, reflective road striping, abrasives for sandblasting, or new glass products. Plastic can be reused for carpet backing and adhesives.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Infinite Recycled Technologies operates a glass recycling facility that processes waste glass — including laminated, insulated, coated, float, tempered, and mirrored glass from residential and commercial windows — using a proprietary machine that separates inner layers from outer layers while producing clean cullet. The company contracts with glass manufacturers to take their waste glass, processes it into clean cullet and reusable plastic commodities, and sells the processed material to downstream manufacturers of fiberglass, road striping, abrasives, carpet backing, and new glass products.

Product overview

Infinite Recycled Technologies operates as a glass recycling company offering a unified service centered on its proprietary laminated glass separation technology. The core offering consists of glass recycling services that process multiple glass types (laminated, insulated, coated, float, tempered, mirrored glass) from residential and commercial windows into clean glass cullet. As the only company in North America with the capability to separate inner layers from outer layers in laminated glass while producing clean cullet, the company transforms processed materials into raw commodities for use in fiberglass, road striping, abrasives, and new glass products. An R&D lab services component develops advanced recycling methods and sustainable solutions, with exploratory work into recycled building materials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Glass Recycling Services A glass recycling service that processes various types of glass (laminated, insulated, coated, float, tempered, mirrored glass) from residential and commercial windows, transforming waste into raw materials suitable for manufacturing environments. Serves glass manufacturers, window makers, and construction companies.
• Glass Cullet Production Production of clean glass cullet in various sizes (from dust to small pebble) from processed recycled glass, suitable for use in fiberglass, reflective road striping, abrasives for sandblasting, and new glass products. Sold as a commodity to downstream manufacturers.
• Recycled Building Materials (Experimental) Exploratory product line using recycled glass to manufacture new building materials, currently a small experimental part of overall operations aimed at creating additional downstream applications for processed glass.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17 million pounds of glass and plastic diverted from landfills at Albert Lea facility
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Watson RecyclingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Parent company and founding entity. Watson Recycling, a family-owned business operating since the 1890s, identified the market opportunity for laminated glass recycling and developed the proprietary technology. Infinite Recycled Technologies was created under the Watson Recycling umbrella to address the new business opportunity.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• CarbonLite: Specialty plastics recycling company focused on PET and difficult-to-recycle streams; comparable as a similarly-positioned specialty recycler building proprietary processing capability into markets where traditional recyclers operate.
• Envision Plastics: Plastics recycling operator with technology for processing complex/contaminated plastic streams, partially comparable to Infinite's capability of separating and recovering plastic interlayers from laminated glass and other difficult waste streams.

Broad incumbents

• Gallo Glass Company: Major US container glass producer operating its own cullet recovery operations, comparable to Infinite as both a glass manufacturer generating waste streams and a recycler producing cullet for reuse in glass manufacturing.
• Owens Corning: Major downstream buyer of recycled glass cullet for fiberglass insulation; a key demand-side comparable Infinite explicitly targets via its commodity cullet sales to fiberglass manufacturers.
• O-I Glass: World's largest container glass producer, operating extensive cullet recovery across its plants; comparable to Infinite as both a generator of glass waste streams and a recycling competitor, though focused on container rather than architectural/laminated glass.
• Vitro (Glass Recycling): Global flat and architectural glass manufacturer with internal cullet recovery and recycling operations across its plants; competes with Infinite for laminated-glass waste volume and serves the same downstream glass-manufacturing customer base.
• Pilkington / NSG Group: Global architectural and automotive glass manufacturer with sustainability programs and recycling initiatives that compete with and create supply relationships for laminated/architectural glass recycling operations like Infinite's.

Direct peers

• Strategic Materials: Largest North American glass recycler, operating multiple MRFs that process container glass, flat glass cullet, and specialty glass streams into industrial feedstocks — making it the most direct competing operator to Infinite's architectural/laminated glass recycling business.

Regional players

• Vetropack Holding: European glass packaging manufacturer operating glass recycling facilities across Europe; a comparable operating peer outside the US market with similar cullet recovery economics to Infinite's US operations.
• Reciplas / European Glass Recyclers: European container and architectural glass recycling operators grouped under FEVE, comparable in technology and end-market to Infinite but operating exclusively outside North America — the international competitors whose US entry would erode Infinite's monopoly.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/infinite-recycled-technologies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Infinite Recycled Technologies