Glass Manufacture - Raw Materials

In considering the use of cullet as a constituent of glass making batches, it is clear that it has always formed a part of the mixture. There are no overt historical references to the re-use of broken glass. However, it was an expensive product and so it is most unlikely that the faulty articles would have been consigned to the rubbish heap. Some time between 300BC and the birth of Christ saw the introduction of the blowing iron. Surplus glass was left on the iron & it is this material in particular from which the word cullet is derived. It comes from the Fench word "collett", dating from 1644, which originally meant the neck band of a garment or necklet. This derives in turn from the Latin word "collum", meaning neck.