Scientists discover a new technique in recycling even small fragments of glass into a useful substance. The team from the University of Queensland led by Prof. Damien Batstone and Ph.D. student Rhys Pirie utilized "a chemical that most people would know as drain cleaner," which is used to dissolve miscellaneous glass fragments into liquid silicate."
The liquid by-product can be used in different products such as toothpaste, concrete sealant, detergents, tires, and crop fertilizer. It is also a material in making the desiccant silica gel contained in small packets with electronic devices. The material cannot be converted into a new glass.
The glass is comprised of 70 to 75 percent silica. This process converts glass into liquid silicate which is efficient as it results in little waste. One kilogram of silica gel results from 1.3 kg of waste glass.
Little energy is used in this process which is different from conventional methods in liquid silicate production. Thus, these scientists believe their process is 50 percent less in terms of production cost.
"At the moment these kinds of silicates [...] are generated through a glass production route where you make glass effectively and you then turn it into a silicate product that is a soluble gel-type product," says Batstone. "Instead of doing that, we're going to take the glass that has already been made and is actually waste, and take it through a much simpler process to turn it into this commercial silicate product."
Uniquest, the university's arm in commercialization, is finding partner companies that plan to commercialize this process.
