The Recycling of Waste Laminated Glass through Decomposition Technologies

Abstract

Laminated glass is ever more frequently used nowadays. This applies to the automobile industry and the construction industry. In cars, this refers mostly to the front and rear windows, whereas in construction, technical safety glass is used for railings and window glass. The task of this type of glass is to provide sufficient resistance against mechanical impact and unpleasant weather conditions. At the same time, if it is damaged, it has to break into the smallest possible pieces, or, wherever possible, the glass should remain intact on the interlayer film to prevent shards from injuring people and animals in the immediate vicinity. The paper deals with the recycling of laminated glass, especially with the effective separation of glass (in the form of cullet) from the polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer film. The experimental research is focused on the mechanical separation of glass from the interlayer film by vibration, and also on the chemical cleaning of PVB film in order to allow subsequent recycling of both materials. The results quantify the efficiency of mechanical separation in the form of weight loss of the sample of laminated glass and define the particle size distribution of glass cullet, which is an important parameter in the possibility of glass recycling. The research leads to a methodology proposal for the separation of glass and PVB film and the design of equipment for this method.

Influence of Niobium Pentoxide and Sintering Temperature on Mechanical and Electrical Properties of Glass-ceramics Obtained from Recycled Automotive Windshields

“…The electrical measurement was performed with Wayne Kerr 3245 inductance analyzer (Wayne Kerr Electronics, UK). Additionally, the dissipation factor (k), which allows evaluating the electrical conductivity of the material ( el σ ), was measured according to Equation (2).…”

“…Moreover, the world car production reaches around 70 million units per year 1 , and every car uses ca. 13 kg of glass 2 , especially in the windshields. Therefore, the reuse and recycling of automotive windshields 3,4 must be incentivized to reduce the environmental impacts.…”

“…In the case of recycled glass to produce glass-ceramics, the raw materials can come from objects like bottles, sodalime glass, photovoltaic glass, and liquid crystal display (LCD) glass 19 . In addition to these sources, automotive laminated glass has also been reused to produce new materials, despite being more challenging to recycle due to its mixture with polymer PVB -polyvinyl butyrol 2,20 . Souza-Dal Bó et al 21 used laminated glass waste to manufacture ceramic frits used in floor and wall coatings.…”

Investigating the Recycling Potential of Glass Based Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells—Melting Experiment

“…In c-Si PV, EVA foil complicates the recycling process. One solution could be the use of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) foil, which is also used in safety glass and for which mechanical and chemical recycling processes exist [79,80]. There is also a patent that describes a method of separating the laminated film from the glass [81].…”

Selection of Conditions in PVB Polymer Dissolution Process for Laminated Glass Recycling Applications

“…Current researchers and recycling companies are focused on the recycling of interlayer PVB of laminated glass, mainly from the automotive sector [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. To the best of our knowledge, so far, only two manufacturers offer 100% recycled PVB films or powder [ 18 , 19 ].…”