Recycled Glass and Dredged Materials
Abstract
This technical note explores the concepts and applications of recovering and reusing two common disposable materials (crushed glass and dredged spoil) for beneficial engineering purposes. Dewatered fine-grained dredged material (DM) amended with glass cullet may prove to be a marketable combination especially useful as an engineered material and construction aggregate substitute. RECYCLED GLASS: Glass is manufactured from silica sand (SiO2) and other compounds, and occurs naturally as black obsidian rock (volcanic deposit) and fulgurite (from lightning strikes). Man-made glass was first made by heating a sand, soda, and lime mixture, which formed a clear liquid that turned into a hard solid when cooled. Glass has been made into containers since about 1500 BC, and glass-making evolved from the Roman times about 50 AD when transparent glass with various colors was formed into mouth-blown shapes. By the early Middle Ages, the Italians had developed an advanced glass industry, which eventually spread across Europe. Today, there are over 1000 chemical formulations known to produce glass, and the glassmaking industry has gone global (Glass Packaging Institute 2005). Glass is a recyclable product at just about any stage in its life cycle. A visit to a crystal factory where lead-oxide glass is transformed into beautiful pieces of art allows one to observe broken or imperfect pieces being placed back into the manufacturing process. Glass containers are recyclable when empty, and are processed for remanufacture into glass containers after being color-separated. Glass can also be recycled into numerous other products such as substitutes for construction aggregates.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA464866
Entities
People
- Landris T. Lee Jr.
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center