Thursday, 02 September 2021 23:21

A promising future for glass lifecycle

The truth about glass recycling is that it really depends on where you live and how the glass recycling policies are, therefore how the processes to recycle work from start to finish determine the glass life-cycle. In some states or countries, sadly millions of glass bottles end up dumped in a landfill, and this can even happen if the glass has been collected through a recycling bin.

Glass is 100% recyclable many times and it is capable of being reused without losing its quality and purity. That is why it is a very popular material for consumers and to be used for different purposes. Yet it is a material which we could get much more benefits from as it is not being recycled nearly as much as it could be.


glass-recycling-benefits


glass-recycling-benefits

Courtesy of GPI; BCG.


Nowadays in the US, glass-recycling rate is around 33% and it has been like that for many years now. In Europe and some US states with the bottle deposit law, glass-recycling average rates are closer to 70% proof that this is possible worldwide and the impact would have enormous environmental benefits. If the glass-recycling rate be to 50%, it would redirect millions of glass from landfills while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 1.4 million metric tons. This could be as good as taking 300,000 cars off the streets.


glass-recycling-benefits

Courtesy of GPI; BCG.


By the end of the decade there has been a goal set by the Glass Packaging Institute to achieve the 50% recycling rate that is intended to be domestic efficient as well as for companies. However it cannot be achieve without an structured plan. The public and private sectors must cooperate making specific investments in infrastructure to improve collection and recycling processes.


glass-recycling-benefits

Courtesy of United States Environmental Protection Agency; Glass Packaging Industry (GPI); BCG.


For this plan to be executed the Glass Packaging Institute has partnered with Boston Consulting Group to develop a structured plan with three main pillars:

Leave no bottle behind

Creating bottle-bill laws, clean collection options and commercial recycling programs.

Transform the recycling system

Creating a much more efficient process that goes from collection to separating to processing.

Collective actions

Having the private sector to create user-friendly deposit-return programs.


glass-recycling-benefits

Courtesy of United States Environmental Protection Agency; Glass Packaging Industry (GPI); BCG.


These three pillars are crucial for the program to work and they are self-reinforcing so none could be successful without the others, so every of these approaches are necessary.

So, by the 2030 the goal is set and this could benefit not only the US but encourage many other countries to implement it and reduce the glass-pollution impact in the world.

Published in Glass & Ceramics
Tuesday, 06 April 2021 18:59

3D printing, Recycled filament

Plastic pollution has become one of the most persistent environmental concerns, as a constant increase of the demand and production of disposable plastic products, overpassing the environment’s ability to decompose them. Sadly, the plastics industry fails to recognize the propagation of social and political changes regarding single-use plastics, especially, plastics made from fossil fuels.


3D-printing-recycled-filament

Today, single-use plastics account for more than 40 percent of the plastic produced every year (ourworldindata.org)


Plastic pollution is an issue that stresses worldwide cooperation, similar to climate change. Studies reveal that the production of plastics from fossil fuel is only cost effective when the components not used for plastics are used for energy production, treating plastic more as a byproduct of the industry. Therefore, if the industry transitions away from fossil fuels, and towards renewable resources, then the production of wasteful single-use plastic could be severely reduced, if not completely eliminated.


3D-printing-recycled-filament

Plastic filament is one of the most used raw materials to 3D print, FDM (fused deposition modeling) 3D printers are the most common type of 3D printers available. There are several types of filament available with different properties, ranging from color, type of plastic and other mechanical properties, nevertheless some eco-friendly filaments do exist; varying from the CO2 footprint to the chemical properties and environmental impact when disposed.


Regardless of the benefits, 3D printing generates large amounts of waste, to enumerate some, starting from the result of failed prints to rejected support structures. Furthermore, the ability to create components without machining or tools causes that many prints are used as disposable prototypes.


3D-printing-recycled-filament

Support material is generally required with complex geometry 3D prints, specially where overhangs exist.


Generally, most “Eco-Friendly” plastic filaments aren’t easy to find and neither a cheap alternative, but recycled filament could be an option that helps reduce the CO2 footprint, following the criteria of the 6R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Redesign and Remanufacture), PLA (polylactic acid) and ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) are the most promising regarding the fabrication of “green” filament, ranging from a factory process to a domestic plastic extruder.

ABS is a petroleum derivate product, generally recyclable and PLA is biodegradable and bioactive thermoplastic derived from resources such as corn, roots, sugarcane and other renewable resources.


3D-printing-recycled-filament

PET Translucent Re-filament, made from old PET bottles, up to 90% recycled (re-filament.com)


Nowadays, market offers various filaments made from second hand PLA, PET, ABS, and HIPS. Re-Filament, a Dutch startup company made filament from recycled plastic bottles (PET) and old car dashboards (ABS), other commercially available filament spools from HIPS are made from old refrigerators or automotive parts.


3D-printing-recycled-filament

ABS Recycled Plastic filament made out from old car dashboards, developed by Re-Fil. (re-filament.com)



3D-printing-recycled-filament

There are other alternatives to make your own recycled filament, such as buying an existing Filament extruding machine or even building it by yourself. (filabot.com)


Published in 3D Printing

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