Monday, May 23, 2011

What Products Are Made From Recycled Glass?


What Products Are Made From Recycled Glass?
What Products Are Made From Recycled Glass?

Americans created about 12.2 million tons of glass waste in 2008, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Only about 23 percent, or 2.8 million tons, of this glass ended up being recycled. When glass is recycled, it's ground into fine pellets known as cullet. Cullet can be remanufactured into a variety of goods. Those items can also be recycled, again and again.

Glass Containers

According to the EPA, 90 percent of recycled glass is used to make new containers. Old soft drink and liquor bottles and spaghetti sauce jars become new soft drink and liquor bottles and spaghetti sauce jars.

Countertops

Manufacturers of recycled glass countertops combine crushed glass with porcelain and resins to produce slabs of material that resemble terrazzo. Recycled glass countertops are heat-, stain- and scratch-resistant.

Tile

Homeowners can choose from recycled glass tiles in various shapes, colors and finishes. Frosted, translucent or metallic tiles work for flooring, on walls or in showers and baths. The tiles are sold individually or in sheets and are installed the same way as any other tiles, with mastic and grout.

Insulation

According to the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association, fiberglass insulation manufactured today is made of at least 40 percent recycled glass. The other main ingredient in fiberglass insulation is sand.

Paving

Recycled glass mixed with paving materials makes glassphalt, which can be used to pave streets and parking lots. In use since the 1960s, glassphalt is made by substituting glass for 5 to 40 percent of the rock normally used in manufacturing asphalt, according to the Clean Washington Center.


Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/121966-products-made-recycled-glass/#ixzz1ND1AqurS
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