Ricky Ostry, Glass Half Full, Commercial Sales Representative

Thanks to GNOEA member George Messing, Owner Messina’s Catering, for hosting this week’s networking event for GNOEA members at the The Basin St. Station!

Ricky has spent the last 15 years working across a variety of industries in New Orleans, including the bar and restaurant scene, entertainment, education, non-profit work, and more. At Glass Half Full, Ricky’s focus is on building relationships with commercial recycling clients and the community at large. In his free time, he likes to cook and play music.

Glass Half Full provides glass recycling solutions for residents, businesses, and events. In addition to free drop-off hubs across the city, they offer collection services for residents, businesses, and events spanning several parishes. Once they collect the glass, they sort it by color and remove all plastic and metal components. Once collected and sorted, they process the glass by pulverizing it with hammer-mill crushers at their local facility, utilizing an Andela Pulverizer and Rotex Screener. They process upwards of 15 tons per day into ready-to-use sand and gravel. They sift the crushed product to remove labels and sort the various size distributions. From there, They are left with sand products ranging from super soft, beach-like powder to chunky glass gravel. This all happens right here in Louisiana; nothing is ever shipped out of the state or overseas for processing. That way, they’re transforming glass “waste” into a resource that actually benefits the community doing the recycling. Finally, they allocate the sand and cullet for a myriad of applications. From coastal restoration and disaster relief to flooring and new glass products, they work to creatively integrate our recycled materials into everyday life. They collect upwards of 300,000 pounds of glass every month.

Please click here to view Mr. Ostry’s presentation. Click here to learn more about Glass Half Full or to sign up for their collection services.

Membership

If you have a prospect, please have them connect with Jacquie Bonano, membership chair at membership@gnoea.com.

Thank You & Announcements

Q1 2025 dues reminder.

Announcements-

Richard Juge, RE/MAX Commercial Brokers thanked Jacquie Bonano, JB Communications for helping his association with their website.

Upcoming Meeting Schedule

  • March 25- Round Table
  • April 1, Sonny Lee, Sonny of a Saint, Founder & COO
  • April 8- No Meeting
  • April 15- Christine Briede, Jefferson Parish Bicentennial
  • April 22- No Meeting, Happy Easter
  • April 29- No Meeting

Check website for updates and bulletins that include upcoming events. Meeting events are on the calendar. Speaker suggestions: contact Program Chairman, Andrew Legrand, al@speralaw.com.