Instead, it gets shipped to the local landfill where it's stockpiled.

"The problem with doing glass here is just our distance to market," said Dennis Pino, Cheyenne's solid waste director. "We're just too far away, so it's not feasible for us to take it to a recycle center."

Right now, there's growing a mound of glass planted in the middle of the landfill.

"We want to start utilizing it for other uses," Pino said.

Mixing it up with other material for an asphalt bed is one option Pino said.

The landfill has already started using the glass to surround the dump's concrete-walled wells that pump out toxic fluids.

Still, Pino says there are recyclers in the area who want to see their contribution recycled at a plant.

"I explain to them the same thing," he said. "It's the distance to market."

For Larimer County, the distance isn't too great.

The money earned from hauling the glass to a plant in Wheat Ridge makes up for the shipping costs, says Larimer County Solid Waste Director Stephen Gillette.

Gillette says despite the sour economy, the price of gas has remained fairly constant.