Glass Half Full

Franziska co-founded Glass Half Full during her senior year of college due to a lack of glass recycling options in Louisiana. Glass Half Full is a social enterprise that diverts glass from landfills by offering residential and commercial glass recycling options and free drop off points in three states of the US. The glass is collected, recycled into sand and gravel products, and then used in coastal restoration projects. Glass Half Full has a partnership with Tulane University, researching the use of its sand for coastal restoration in Louisiana, where a State of Emergency was declared in 2017 due to the severity of its coastal erosion and land loss [1]. The organisation has also collaborated with the Pointe-au-Chien Tribe to develop and implement restoration projects, as well as the Big Branch Wildlife Reserve and the Central Wetlands in Louisiana.

Franziska attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. She was a Delegate Speaker on the Oceans plenary challenge, and was subsequently featured on Buzzfeed after another Delegate saw her speak. Being an Ambassador has opened other avenues for Franziska to promote her work; she was featured in the BBC’s Business Daily podcast where she discussed her story and Glass Half Full.

Glass Half Full has recycled six million pounds of glass and restored over 1,736 metres of land through four projects. The organisation has directly impacted 10,000 people through its recycling programme, and has 2,000 users through its residential pick up initiative. Glass Half Full has partnered with 10 schools in New Orleans, organising field trips through which 240 students have learned about glass recycling.

“I was one of the Delegate Speakers at the Summit and so I was able to get a speech coach. I was able to really refine my pitch and my story and then also present that to the 3,000 attendees. And so from that, I developed a lot of speaking skills but I was also able to meet so many different people who saw my pitch. One of those people ended up writing an article in Buzzfeed where I was featured.”