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Overview Of Recycled Glass For Landscaping

By Marci Glover


Glass recycling is the process by which waste glasses are melted to make new products. To do this, recycled glass for landscaping must be separated according to chemical composition and then, depending on the planned use, they can also be split according to color. It can be recycled 100%, an indefinite number of times. After the treatment, the glassware is transported to the production plant where it is melted and becomes a new product. After this stage, the packaging is sent to the bottling plants, where they are filled and then returned to the distribution network.

The recycling involves considerably lower energy consumption than its manufacture by sand, lime and soda ash. The cut-glass that is ready to be melted is called cullet. Although one cannot determine how long it is exposed to the environment without degrading.

During its production, air pollution is not a problem since most furnaces operate on electricity. To minimize gaseous emissions from furnaces, industries use natural gas which causes less impact on the environment. The reuse of glassware is preferable to recycling. Bottles are widely reused in many European countries and Brazil. In Denmark, 98% of bottles are reused.

Once collected, the first step of recycling materials is clean, the cut-glass is treated with chemicals to remove any dirt, sand or grease, then the elements of plastic, paper and other debris are removed. Once clean, glasses are passed through a series of screens and hammers, to the desired particle size. Then it goes through some magnets which remove possible traces of metal; cut-glass ready to be melted is called cullet.

This form of recycling occurs primarily in three steps. The first step is the collection, which is made by collectors, in some countries the selective collection is still not a reality. At this stage, the bottles are simply collected and taken to the recycling center. The second step is the separation, when the materials are separated by color and type. At this stage, it is important to eliminate any kind of special glassware such as Pyrex, since these, even in small amounts cause significant changes in the viscosity of the final product.

Cut-glass recycling is ecologically advantageous than the production of new glassware, since the melting point of pure quartz lies at 1700 degrees Celsius and the melting (refining), therefore a lot of energy is required to process the raw materials. The melting of unmixed waste glass is useful in any case. The melting of glass from raw materials up to 25% more energy would be needed.

In the UK, there are about 50,000 recycling bins receiving 752,000 tonnes each year. However, the recycling industry cannot consume all the materials that have accumulated over the years, mainly due to differences in coloration. The UK imports much more green glasses shaped wine bottles leading to an excess for recycling.

The collection of waste wineglass is generally done by inserting in public glass containers, which are separated by color. Only uncolored glasses (white) and colored glasses (stained) can be distinguished in the collection. The color separation is important for the recycling process. A green bottle of champagne, for example, leads to unwanted color casts in the melting process for colorless glassware.




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