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A friend brought the question up the other day: a business round the corner from him replaces windscreens and has amassed tons of them.

I'm in Ireland, but how are these things dealt with in the UK?

A few alternative types have used them for windows in buildings. How about interesting shaped greenhouses?

JohnB wrote:A few alternative types have used them for windows in buildings. How about interesting shaped greenhouses?

Most - probably all - are broken.

emordnilap wrote:

JohnB wrote:A few alternative types have used them for windows in buildings. How about interesting shaped greenhouses?

Most - probably all - are broken.

I would imagine they will get mostly recycled back into the production chain

stevecook172001 wrote:

emordnilap wrote:

JohnB wrote:A few alternative types have used them for windows in buildings. How about interesting shaped greenhouses?

Most - probably all - are broken.

I would imagine they will get mostly recycled back into the production chain

Yes, Steve, but I suppose my question wasn't specific enough, sorry. What I mean is, how are they recycled, if or when they are?

emordnilap wrote:

stevecook172001 wrote:

emordnilap wrote: Most - probably all - are broken.

I would imagine they will get mostly recycled back into the production chain

Yes, Steve, but I suppose my question wasn't specific enough, sorry. What I mean is, how are they recycled, if or when they are?

Assuming that the majority end up at the breakers, I guess they would sell them back to general glass manufacturers maybe? However, they might have a deal with the actual windscreen manufactures directly and so send them back to them. I'm just guessing E.

AFAIK most go to landfill.
Vehicles windscreens are not readily recycled because they are laminated and the resultant mixture of glass and plastic is not readily recycled.

Other glass waste that consists ONLY of glass is relatively easy to recycle.

adam2 wrote:AFAIK most go to landfill.
Vehicles windscreens are not readily recycled because they are laminated and the resultant mixture of glass and plastic is not readily recycled.

Other glass waste that consists ONLY of glass is relatively easy to recycle.

That sounds about right, though I found a windscreen replacement company here in Ireland which states:

In our strive to limit our impact on the environment we have implemented projects to recycle more than 90% of all our waste products. We currently take all the old glass away from the customer and send it for recycling. The glass is re-used in many products from fish bowls to vases and pitchers, and it can even be found crushed and mixed with paint to make road markings more reflective.

We also recycle all our paper, cardboard and plastic waste. We are very pleased to carry out all this with no extra cost to you the customer.

Our aim for 2012 is to recycle more than 90% of all of our waste.

How honest and realistic this is, well...I mean, "in our strive"!

Another company, one which repairs windscreens, states:

Also, reducing the environmental impact of managing the disposal of windscreen glass, which is not recycled.

Who do you believe? They're all selling something.

It costs money to send it to landfill, cheaper to find a recycling route.

Our local tip, sorry, civic amenity site, only takes bottles for recycling. All sheet glass goes to landfill for some unknown reason. I would think that windscreen glass being flat glass would do the same.

Wouldn't the plastic in laminated glass just burn out in the furnace?

kenneal - lagger wrote: Wouldn't the plastic in laminated glass just burn out in the furnace?

Very much depends on the temperature and air supply. Many plastics are toxic polymers, or have toxic additives. Burning at too low a temperature can lead to dioxin emissions, and glass normally only needs a relatively low temperature to be melted and reused.

Also, not all glass is chemically compatible. Pyrex is designed not to shatter when going through heating cycling in the oven, freezer, etc. It cannot be recycled with bottle glass. Windscreen glass might be similar.

This is a major problem with modern 'advanced materials' in general. Composite materials are difficult or impossible to recycle.

A major destination for waste glass is as "cullet". This is basically crushed glass that is added to the "batch" (sand, soda, etc) when making new glass. Cullet is nearly always used as an additive in the glass making process, as it melts before the other ingredients and has the effect of speeding up the reaction time. I'm almost certain the presence of the vinyl interlayer in a windscreen would prevent it from being used for this purpose, but not 100%.

(I did my undergrad engineering apprenticeship with Pilkingtons in St Helens)

Google gives this for the US.

Matthew Mycock of Autoglass seems committed but is light on detail.

woodburner wrote:It costs money to send it to landfill, cheaper to find a recycling route.

Finding a rcycling route is not always cheaper especialy for relatively small volumes of specialist waste.
The volume of broken car windscreens may seem a lot if all pilled up in one place, but is very small compared to general household waste.

I doubt that the average is even one car windscreen every 10 years per person, as compared to hundreds of bins or bag fulls of domestic waste in the same time.

I've needed 2 windscreens in the last 3 years.

Both caused by my younger daughter - once bouncing pebbles off it -
and the second time bouncing herself off it when I hadn't checked her seat belt.