About 100 billion glass containers are produced annually.
The glass market is worth over $ 100 billion a year. Glass has been produced for 9.000 years, however, recycling bins were only introduced in the 70s.
There are countries like Sweden that reach 90% recycling peaks, the United States average does not reach 40%. The UK uses around 3,6 million tonnes of glass, of which less than one million is recycled. The rest goes to landfills.
Glass is a curious product, it can be reused indefinitely, but the production process requires a lot of energy and also for recycling the costs are high for both collection and transport.
Andrew Ungerleider and Gay Dillingham founders of EARTHSTONE INTERNATIONAL LLC (1995 in New Mexico USA) have considered converting discarded glass into a glass foam with a wide range of potential applications.
To obtain the glass foam, the used glass is shattered into a powder, then heated and injected with CO2, creating a light, resistant and economical foam.
The field of application of glass foam is vast.
Ake Mård, a Swedish building contractor, turned the glass foam into blocks for prefabricated buildings, walls and roofs for houses.
In fact, glass, filled with tiny air bubbles, becomes a fireproof and insulating building material.
This new construction technique has been approved by the European Union.
Water cannot penetrate these blocks, no parasites make their way through the walls, no fungus grows on the wall, and the insulation factor outperforms known alternatives in price and performance.
This is a very interesting solution to reduce material waste and create an economy that is both profitable and truly circular.
