Italian-based Sasil, has developed a new technology to produce glassy sand from the waste that is normally left over after glass cullet is processed. The cullet is washed in pre-heated water, four parts water to one part glass, and fragments bitter than 10mm are treated to remove contaminants. Small fragments will go through the new process which will grind them into smaller pieces.. Dr P Ercole, of the Italian glass technology association ATIV, says glassmakers will need to change their processes to make use of the glassy sand because the product will contain hard-to-melt impurities, albeit in particle sizes small enough to totally dissolve in the glass melt. Sasil plans to produce around 120,000/tpy and is also developing a new reactor technology that will turn plastic collected with waste glass into an oil very similar to diesel oil. See: www.gruppominerali.com
