Hi everybody! Just getting in some practice for tomorrow night’s presentations.

I’d like to tell you about my Independent Directed Study on recycling commercial glass.

First of all, when I say ‘commercial glass’ I am referring to glass that is treated, such as window-panes, windshields, shower doors and even cookware. Because the properties of commercial glass can vary so much in comparison to bottle glass, there is actually no system in place to recycle it, and so a massive amount of glass is winding up in the landfill every year. So when a window breaks, guess where it ends up.

The differences between bottle glass and window glass are numerous; bottle glass is simply coloured glass, where-as commercial glass is largely two main types (float-glass and soda-lime glass), it might be tempered or heat-strengthened (which would alter the melting point), it might be silk-screened (coated in a layer of ceramic frit paint) it could have a Standard Issue Solar Coating , or it could have a Low-Emissivity coating; all of which could produce toxic substances when melted; a concern for both the environment and a work-safe hazard. In spite of all this, however, it still seems entirely possible to devise a system to recycle commercial glass.

At present, I am looking into the bottle-glass recycling process which I hope will provide some foundational details for this system.

My dad, as a glazier, has a lot of experience in the industry and has been a huge help to me throughout the course of this project and a lot of my progress so far is due to his insight and advice. Thanks dad!