This is a year-end summary of my work towards designing and building a system to recycling windows, skylights, curtain wall, and many other types of commercial glass. If you are familiar with the issue or the industry, please message me on Facebook and I will send you the survey mentioned there-in
2. What is it?
Commercial Glass ;
[kə-ˈmər-shəl gläs]
The general definition extends to most
glass
that serves a commercial purpose; such as
windows, mirrors, skylights and table-ware.
http://www.psdgraphics.com/photos/abstract-glass-building/
4. Benefits of recycling
More landfill space is made available
Recycling consumes considerably less
energy than it takes to melt down raw
materials
New employment opportunities would arise
Recycled glass cullet can be made into a
wide array of functional and artistic products
If Vancouver glass
companies could recycle just
1% of their waste glass, it
would keep over 2,500lbs
out of the landfill and
conserve more than
50,000lbs of raw materials
every year.
Over a longer span, it
would conserve even
more because glass
can be recycled
infinitely.
5. IDS Goal
http://www.clipartpanda.com
My goal for this directed study is to create this magnet; i.e.
to design a large scale system that would divert the glass
away from landfills and reduce the waste glass into a form
that can be reused sustainably.
6. Starting Questions
‘How does commercial glass differ from
bottle glass?’
‘Considering that it takes up such large
quantity of landfill, are those differences big
enough to justify not having a recycling
program?’
‘If so, can I find a way to change that?’
‘If not, how can I make a viable design and
market it to appropriate people?’
7. The Plan
1. Do some background research to find out
why commercial glass isn't currently
recycled
2. Find out if there are currently any recycling
efforts being made
3. Reach out to people in the industry who
may be interested in participating or helping
design
4. Design fully-functional recycling system
5. Partner with someone capable of making
this design a reality
8. Anticipated problems
Expected roadblock to arise due to my lack of
applicable knowledge of the industry
Inability to sort out contaminants from the
glass
Difficulty determining end uses for the glass
and creating a veritable, appealing market for
the processed glass cullet
9. Plan in Action: Research
Focused on understanding the qualities and
types of commercial glass
Discovered that an Ontario recycling
company, Nexcycle, accepted tempered
glass for a time, but discontinued the
program
Uncovered benefits of recycling and end
uses/products the recycled glass could be
turned into…
100min 87min
11. Plan in Action: Reaching out
Compiled a list of major glass companies in
the Lower Mainland
Created a 6 question survey to guide their
feedback and generate an understanding as
to what they would want to see in the design
Asked 8 major local glass companies to
participate
I expected more to respond, but the few who
did had lots of feedback, concerns and
advice
12. Feedback result
2 companies said that minimal commercial storage
space would be an especially attractive design
feature, but were divided on what that would look like
I’ve settled on a compromise of temporary on-site
bins which companies can drop-off at the recycling
facility
One concern raised was whether there is any
dangers presented by the chemical composition of
the glass
After some more research, I built chemical profiles for
the various compounds within glass and glass
coatings
Going a step further, I also used the profiles to find
out the required safety features for the system
13. Where I’m at
A B
InitialResearch
Recyclemybrokenwindow
Partnerwithsomeonecapableofmaking
thissystemareality
Draftdesigns
Buildchemicalprofiles
Contactglasscompanies
14. What’s next:
Summer 2017 (I have to wait until I’m 19 to participate.)
My goal for this project is currently to connect with someone who can help me turn this
glass recycling system into a real place that boosts the economy and saves the earth.
SLLP is a 25-day journey over 1,400km of the Fraser river, during which we’ll learn about
managing resources sustainably with an emphasis on those connected to the river. I hope
to meet my goal here, and until then I will continue working towards a final design for this
recycling system.
15. Reflection
This project has given me a lot of insight and
awareness into just how much waste we are
producing on a regular basis, and how much
work still needs to be done on the road to
reducing our damaging footprint.
It's also built into my research skills and
created plenty of opportunities to practice
formally communicating with people I would
not have otherwise.
Notas del editor
8:26
I began this project with several questions about how to go about recycling this
material and used them to guide my research.
To answer my first and second questions: ‘what is different about commercial glass?’ and ‘are those differences big enough to make it unrecyclable?’; I would need to sit down and do some research
Next, I would look to see if something like this had been tried before. Given the size of the issue, I speculated that someone would have and wanted to learn what worked and what didn’t for them.
Then, I would try to connect with people in the industry who wanted to be a part of the project design, or participate in it later on, and incorporate their feedback into the design
Finally, I would design a sustainable recycling system and then
Partner with someone capable of making this design into reality
There were a few issues that might arise because of my lack of knowledge about marketing and the glass industry and I prepared to seek out people with more experience, if necessary, to get a better understanding of the issue.
1. Almost immediately came across Nexcycle in the Region of Waterloo Ontario's recycling index as a tempered glass -but no info online about Nexcycle apart from an article saying they were discontinuing their curbside recycling program because of expense
Rest of research focused and broadened understanding of the qualities definition of commercial glass
Also the benefits of recycling and products it could be turned into. Glass can be recycled infinitely with no deterioration in quality so long as it’s kept free of contaminants and lower quality glass. Between me, my dad and the internet, we put together a list of 30 things that recycled glass could be and are currently used for, including insulation, new windows and road surfacing.
With the chemical profiles complete -and thus the gap in knowledge filled- I felt ready to put pen to paper
I have put together a few rudimentary test drafts
It was suggested that as part of the verification of these, I study a bottle-glass producing factory so that's what I’m working on at present.
![What is it?
Commercial Glass ;
[kə-ˈmər-shəl gläs]
The general definition extends to most
glass
that serves a commercial purpose; such as
windows, mirrors, skylights and table-ware.
http://www.psdgraphics.com/photos/abstract-glass-building/](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)