Glass cullet Scrap or New Raw Material?

Municipal and industrial wastes were mixed with glass cullet producing successfully bulk glasses and glass fibres. Depending on the composition and amount of the waste, glasses with different characteristics were obtained. Some of the glasses were also crystallised to produce glass ceramics. Glass cullet was foamed with the use of suitable foaming agents. The properties of the foams obtained were comparable to those of currently manufactured material. Leaching and durability tests showed that micropollutants are retained in the waste-derived glass, so the material can either be disposed safely or used as raw material to produce other items. This work thus demonstrates that wastes can be inertized by mixing them with glass formers, and that they can also be valorised if the produced glass is used to manufacture commercial products.