Glass Recycling Process: By: Charo Mel Tablo

GLASS RECYCLING
PROCESS
BY: CHARO MEL TABLO

WHAT IS GLASS?
Glass is known for both its fragility and
toughness, which makes it a solid. Due to
its fluid character, it can be classified as a
liquid and a solid at the same time. Glass
has no thermal nor electrical conductivity
since it does not react with chemical
substances.
RAW
MATERIALS
LIQUID SAND
Believe it or not, glass is made
from liquid sand. You can make
glass by heating ordinary sand
(which is mostly made of silicon
dioxide) until it melts and turns
into a liquid. You won't find that
happening on your local beach:
sand melts at the incredibly high
temperature of 1700°C (3090°F).
SODA ASH
Normally SiO2 softens up to
2000°C, where it starts to
degrade (at 1713°C most of the
molecules can already move
freely). Adding soda will lower
the melting point to 1000°C
making it more manageable.
LIMESTONE
Also known as lime, calcium
carbonate is found naturally as
limestone, marble, or chalk.
The soda makes the glass
water-soluble, soft and not very
durable. Therefore lime is
added increasing the hardness
and chemical durability and
providing insolubility of the
materials.
TYPES OF
GLASSES
COMMERCIAL GLASS OR
SODA-LIME GLASS
- It has light transmission appropriate to be use in
flat glass in windows;
- It has a smooth and nonporous surface that allows
glass bottles and packaging glass to be easily
cleaned;
- The disadvantages of soda-lime glass is that is not
resistant to high temperatures and sudden thermal
changes. For example, everybody has experienced
a glass breaking down when pouring liquid at high
temperature, for example to make tea.
LEAD GLASS
- In moderate amounts lead
increases durability;
- In high amounts it lowers the
melting point and decreases the
hardness giving a soft surface;
- In addition it has a high refractive
index giving high brilliance glass.
BOROSILICATE GLASS
Boron gives greater resistance to thermal
changes and chemical corrosion. It is suitable
for industrial chemical process plants, in
laboratories, in the pharmaceutical industry, in
bulbs for high-powered lamps, etc. Borosilicate
glass is also used in the home for cooking
plates and other heat-resistant products. It is
used for domestic kitchens and chemistry
laboratories, this is because it has greater
resistance to thermal shock and allows for
greater accuracy in laboratory measurements
when heating and cooling experiments.
NON- RECYCLABLE GLASSES
PYREX
Its multifunctional use and ability to withstand a high heat

made it incredibly popular for home cooks and universities
LIGHTBULBS
a device used to convert electricity into light, consisting of a source of illumination (e.g.
an electric filament or one or more LEDs) enclosed within a transparent or translucent
shell, typically having a rounded shape and designed to be fitted into a socket in a lamp.
MIRRORS
Mirrors are rarely accepted into the normal glass recycling process and
must therefore be sent to landfill.
WINDOWS
Glass does not scratch as easily as acrylic, but breaks more easily. Windows may be
glazed with single-pane glass, or with two or three pieces of glass separated by a space
filled with air or gas. Double- and triple-pane windows block warm air from escaping the
home more efficiently than single-pane windows.
PROCEDURE OF GLASS RECYCLING
Step 1: You Recycle Your Glass
Deposit your glass in an area glass drop-off bin or your curbside glass
bin.
Step 2: Collection & Delivery
Glass is collected and delivered. All colors of glass are stored together.
All loads are carefully inspected for contamination and hazardous
materials.
Step 3: Sorting Stations
The first two stations are dedicated to sorting out contaminants. Common contaminants include
ceramics, Pyrex, aluminum cans, light bulbs, cardboard, window frames, and mirrors. The
remaining stations are dedicated to sorting out non-brown glass, which is batch processed later.
Step 4: Glass Breaking
24 hammers, each the size of a forearm, spin quickly around an axle,

breaking the glass into crude particles for future optical sorting. A slight
water mist is applied when necessary to control airborne particulates.
Step 5: Trommel
Broken glass particles are passed through a revolving screen and sorted into 3/8”
and 3/4” sizes. Fans propel the paper labels detached during breaking through the
trommel and into a paper recycling bin. Items that don’t shatter and cannot fit
through the screens (corks, caps, lids, errant labels) are collected and recycled.
Step 6 :Fluidized Bed Drier
A smooth ribbon of glass particles enters the drier in a 4” bed. Vibratory action moves the
particles through the drier. Air is heated to 190 degrees F, using natural gas and forced
through the bed of the drier. Think air hockey. Sugars and bacteria are burned and label
glue is loosened. Residue floats to the top and is sucked away via our vacuum system.
Step 7: Primary Rotary Screen
Dried and cleaned glass is screened to cull out specific sizes. Screens
are quickly changed to produce different size grades for different
customers. For example, fiberglass manufacturing requires all particles
to be 12 mesh or smaller.
Step 8: Pulverizer
Glass particles that are too big to fit through the primary screen are sent
through the pulverizer. Similar to the breaker, the pulverizer uses 36
hammers inside a small enclosure to aggressively reduce particles size.
All particles recirculate until they finally pass through the primary
screen.
Step 9: Secondary Rotary Screen Size
Classifier
Particles that are small enough to pass

through the primary screen are then
processed through the secondary screen.
Particles are separated into four size grades:
• 12 mesh to 20 mesh
• 70 mesh and smaller
The Final Product
Glass cullet is classified in sizes that can range from pebbles to sand and
even powder.
MACHINERIES AND
EQUIPMENT
OF GLASS RECYCLING
GLASS HAMMER CRUSHER
The impact force produced by the
high-speed hammerhead of the glass
hammer crusher easily crushes the
glass. At the same time, this work
necessitates a hammerhead with
high wear resistance. The glass
crusher is adaptable, has an
advanced structural design, good
frame sealing, and emits little noise
and pollution.
GLASS JAW CRUSHER
With a capacity of 1 to 500 tons per
hour, the glass jaw crusher is a
highly productive piece of
equipment. Glass can be crushed and
processed using squeezing, grinding,
and other methods in a jaw crusher
with a deep crushing cavity. At the
same time, a glass jaw crusher has a
high crushing ratio and a wide range
of applications, as it can crush
different types of glass, such as beer
bottles and automobile glass, with
varying hardness.
GLASS ROLL CRUSHER
The output of the glass roll crusher is
extremely high. When crushing glass
bottles, the output can be increased by 30-
40% on average. It also saves energy during
the crushing process. Glass roll crusher has
a simple design, a small footprint, and its
components are simple to install and
replace. It has a dustproof board, which
improves the sealing performance and
prevents the splash of glass dust. It crushes
glass by squeezing it and has an easily
adjustable discharge port that can meet a
variety of discharge requirements.
GLASS IMPACT CRUSHER
The impact force of the glass impact
crushing machine is significant. It
can crush glass with a high hardness
while causing no serious damage to
the machine. Glass impact crusher
has a wide adjusting range of
discharging port and can effectively
control the discharge particle size. It
can control the output size by
adjusting the rotor speed, impact
type, and grinding chamber gap.
GLASS BREAKER SCREEN
The Glass Breaker Screen is a multi-deck
screen that breaks and separates glass at
high efficiency rates by using cast
chromium elliptical discs set at a 90-
degree angle. Containers and glass fall
onto the first angled deck, which
separates broken glass and fines, allowing
aluminum, plastic, and steel containers to
pass through. It offers a more efficient
method of simplifying glass processing,
increasing system throughput, and
optimizing revenue streams.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
DID YOU KNOW?
- For every ton of glass recycled, more than a ton of natural resources are
saved. For every 10% cullet (crushed recycled glass) used in the
manufacturing process, energy costs are reduced by approximately 2-3%.
- When glass is used for recycling, there are fewer glass objects in the
landfill or bin.
- For every ton of cullet added to the furnace, 1.2 tons of raw materials
are saved.
- When one ton of glass is recycled, approximately 580kg CO2 is saved
throughout the supply chain, air pollution is reduced by 20%, and water
pollution is reduced by 50%.
GLASS RECYCLING
INDUSTRY IN THE
PHILIPPINES
ASAHI GLASS CORPORATION
Focuses on the production of raw

glass and imports high value
products from affiliates in the
region.
LOCATION: PASIG
PRODUCTION CAPACITY: 520
tons/day in 2006
ASIA BREWERY INCORPORATED
The Cabuyao plant is one of the largest and most

modern fully integrated manufacturing plants in
South East Asia. Asia Brewery’s glass plant meets
most of the captive glass demand of the company’s
brewery and distillery division. Bucher Emhart
Glass, Land Instruments, Sheppee International, E
W Bowman, Fives Stein, Bottero, Henry F
Teichmann and Tiama - msc & sgcc are counted
among the glass plant’s main technology suppliers.
Location: Cabuyao, Laguna

Production Capacity: Equipped with three furnaces
(200, 60 and 140 tons/day)
GLASS RECYCLING
INDUSTRY
OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY
ITALY
Italy achieves the highest glass recycling rates of the southern
European countries. There has been an increase in the quantity of waste
glass from 2.13 Million Metric Tons Annually to 2.34 Million Metric
Tons Annually and also in the recycling rate from 58.9 % to a
substantial 70.9 %.
UNITED KINGDOM
In the United Kingdom, glass collection points known as bottle banks
are very common near shopping malls, civic amenity sites, and in local
neighborhoods. On June 6, 1977, Stanley Race CBE, then president of
the Glass Manufacturers' Federation, and Ron England opened the first
bottle bank in Barnsley. The DoE worked at Warren Springs
Laboratory in Stevenage (now AERA at Harwell) and Nazeing Glass
Works in Broxbourne to see if a usable glass product could be made
from more than 90% recycled glass. Magnets were found to be
necessary for removing unwanted metal closures from the mixture.
SWEDEN
The Swedish Glass Recycling organization (Svensk
Glastervinning), which is a member of the Swedish Packaging
Federation, is in charge of glass collection and recycling (FTI).
Because the FTI is a non-profit organization, all profits (SEK 37
million in 2017) are reinvested in the recycling system. Sweden
currently has only one glass processing plant, located in
Hammar, west of Stockholm, with an annual capacity of
approximately 0.25 million metric tons. About two-thirds of the
recovered glass is used to make new glass bottles, while the
other third is used to make glass wool and foam glass.

Glass Recycling Process: By: Charo Mel Tablo

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Glass Recycling Process: By: Charo Mel Tablo

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Glass Recycling Process: By: Charo Mel Tablo

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

GLASS RECYCLING

BY: CHARO MEL TABLO

Its multifunctional use and ability to withstand a high heat

24 hammers, each the size of a forearm, spin quickly around an axle,

Particles that are small enough to pass

Focuses on the production of raw

The Cabuyao plant is one of the largest and most

Location: Cabuyao, Laguna

You might also like