• Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
Call us at 888.619.2226
Glass Paint
  • Home
  • About
  • BUY ONLINE
  • INFO
    • PRODUCTS / DATA / VIDEOS
    • HGTV
    • FAQs
    • Make Your Own Colors
    • LIMITED WARRANTY
  • Gallery
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
  • 0Shopping Cart

Is glass coming to a concrete near you?

January 7, 2017/in Blog, Glass Paint/by eileen

Is glass coming to a concrete near you?

Is glass coming to a concrete near you?

As cities across the United States struggle with the question of glass recycling, some companies are envisioning a new future for old bottles and jars. Google and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation teamed up in 2010 to examine “circular economies.” A circular economy is one in which materials are used and re-used in ways that limit the need for truly raw materials.

One area that the MacArthur Foundation examined was concrete. Concrete is a common building material, but it has some environmental downsides. Cement – a primary component of concrete – generates a lot of CO2 during its production. Various concrete mixtures can also contain toxic heavy metals like cadmium, arsenic and lead. These toxic inclusions come from fly ash and slag, which are sometimes used in concrete mixtures as a substitute for some of the cement.

Ground glass is being considered as a substitute for fly ash, which is in short supply. Fly ash is a residue generated by coal-fired power plants. No one’s building coal fired power plants today, and as more plants convert to natural gas, the supply of fly ash dwindles further. At the same time, the demand for concrete is rising, so finding an acceptable substitute for fly ash is a priority.

Substituting glass for fly ash could solve a couple of problems. First, it could create a viable market for recycled glass. That’s big because so many cities struggle with glass recycling, and it could remove some of the 8 million tons of container glass from US landfills every year. Second, it could reduce the demand for cement, which could in turn reduce cement-related carbon emissions significantly. Each ton of cement that’s produced releases a ton of carbon into the atmosphere.

Right now, using glass powder (called pozzolan) in place of fly ash would increase the price of concrete slightly – less than 5% – but it would decrease the carbon footprint of concrete to about 10% of its current size by reducing demand for cement. It would also eliminate the need to import fly ash from other places, like China and South America. The Foundation estimates that a pozzolan plant needs about 40,000 tons of container glass each year to keep up with the demand for ground glass, and multiple pozzolan plants would be needed to meet the annual demand for concrete. That’s still significantly less than the amount of glass that gets recycled, but concrete production offers a positive market for recycled glass – something that has so far been hard to come by.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialized glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. GlassPrimer also makes a glass surface molecular activator that is designed to work with UV-inkjet glass printing processes. For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Sparkle Motion, via Flickr.com

Tags: concrete, glass, pozzolan, recycled glass
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Vk
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
You might also like
Glass experiments may reveal Martian secretsGlass pennies?! Lost glass penny rediscovered
Glass experiments may reveal Martian secretsGlasses can correct color blindness
Glass experiments may reveal Martian secretsGlass experiments may reveal Martian secrets
Glass experiments may reveal Martian secretsRaining glass: no place like home
Glass experiments may reveal Martian secretsHouston reboots glass recycling program
Glass experiments may reveal Martian secretsGorilla glass: What is it?!
Glass experiments may reveal Martian secretsPPG Sells Flat Glass Division
Glass experiments may reveal Martian secretsGlass recycling strategies emerge
Popular
  • Customer Reviews / Post your ReviewsMarch 1, 2010 - 9:21 am
  • Glass Paint ForumMay 10, 2010 - 3:55 pm
  • We are Professional Grade Glass PaintSeptember 11, 2014 - 11:51 am
  • VOC Compliance…September 11, 2014 - 11:59 am
Recent
  • What kind of paint can be used on glass?October 17, 2017 - 5:05 pm
  • Tips for using glass paintOctober 17, 2017 - 4:55 pm
  • How to use glass paintOctober 17, 2017 - 4:47 pm
  • Backpainted glass backsplash is a great seasonal project
    Backpainted glass backsplash is a great seasonal projec...June 29, 2017 - 12:00 pm
Comments
Tags
art glass backpainted glass colored glass commercial glass container glass decorating with glass energy efficient glass flat glass frosted glass glass glass bridge Glass Building glass buildings glass coating glass coatings glass decorating glass decoration glass design glass doors glass paint glass paint bathroom glass painting glass paint kitchen glass paint projects glass pool glass printing glass recycling glass strength Gorilla glass how to paint glass iconic glass structures interior glass low e glass metallic glass opaque glass painted glass painting glass photovoltaic glass radioactive glass recycled glass recycling glass safety glass smart glass stained glass tempered glass

Categories

  • Activator
  • Blog
  • Glass Paint
  • Home slider
  • home-first-coloum
  • home-first-row
  • home-second-column
  • home-testimonial-row
  • Skip
  • Uncategorized

ABOUT

Glass Paint – self-priming/permanent-bonding glass paint began outside of the USA in early 1997. In late 2003 Glass Paint moved to the USA for distribution in North America.

QUICK MENU

  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Glass Paint FaQs
  • LIMITED WARRANTY
  • PRODUCTS / DATA / VIDEOS
  • Sitemap

Products

  • Complete Package, Glass Paint Component “A/B” GPPP083®/GPUC083® (Self-Priming Glass Paint/Catalyst) Complete Package, Glass Paint Component “A/B” GPPP083®/GPUC083® (Self-Priming Glass Paint/Catalyst) $265.00
  • Glass Paint Component “A” GPPP083® (Self-Priming Glass Paint only) **Catalyst required Glass Paint Component “A” GPPP083® (Self-Priming Glass Paint only) **Catalyst required $190.00

CONTACT INFO

USA / International

Toll Free: 888.619.2226
Atlanta, Georgia: 718.374.5229
Brooklyn, New York: 718.374.5229
Fax: 888.619.2226
E-Mail: [email protected]
© 2024 Glass Paint. All rights reserved - Enfold Theme by Kriesi
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
Smog-eating glass coating could freshen citiesSmog-eating glass coating could freshen citiesIconic glass structures – Willis TowerIconic glass structures – Willis Tower
Scroll to top