Various ways to dispose of glass waste. cullet processing

Every year there is more and more glass that needs to be recycled. Crockery, old glass, interior items, industrial appliances and much more turn into cullet, which requires recycling. But this process in our country, as well as in the neighboring countries, is just beginning to improve.

At this stage in the development of the glass recycling industry, there is a good opportunity to organize your own business and occupy an almost empty niche in this business. In order to decide whether it is worth taking yourself in this direction, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of the process, the list of necessary equipment, as well as the requirements of regulations.

What is glass recycling

Glass processing is, in fact, its grinding and remelting in special furnaces. Previously, the waste is collected, sorted by color, and only then proceed to crushing and smelting. Mainly recyclable broken glass, without foreign impurities and coatings (mainly cans, bottles, laboratory equipment).

In some cases, the battle is melted at home using dyes and binders. Without the use of special equipment and industrial facilities or glass waste, only bathroom or kitchen tiles can be made. It will be a unique handmade product.

Industrial processing of cullet takes place in other volumes and provides more opportunities for secondary production. The secondary production of glass containers is much cheaper than the primary one, since it does not require large investments, and the production process itself is much simpler and faster.

How to Start a Glass Recycling Business?

Before starting any business, it is necessary to determine the scope of activity, evaluate all the pros and cons of the direction, calculate the amount of necessary investments and estimated costs. For this, a business plan is drawn up. In order to occupy your niche “glass processing” in the market, a business plan must be drawn up taking into account all the nuances of the work of the future enterprise (the experience of other companies, fluctuations in utility prices, characteristics of raw materials, etc.) with the calculation of projected costs and profits.

First of all, new activities are registered with the tax office. For the work of the enterprise, the documents provided for by the current legislation are drawn up.

When planning to open a mini-factory for glass processing, it is necessary to determine the location of its location, as well as the characteristics of the building itself. Land for construction can be purchased or rented for a long time. In any case, the territory under the plant cannot be located among the residential area. The processing plant is built in an industrial area or outside the settlement.

The premises must be rented, bought or built according to the developed project. The building must be equipped with all mandatory security systems.

The room must be equipped with units designed for the processing and disposal of glass. Equipment can be rented, borrowed or purchased by paying the full price. For the success of the enterprise, it is important that the equipment is of high quality and meets the requirements of safety and ecology. In the case when the result and income depend on the functioning of the equipment, it is necessary to purchase only high-quality and reliable equipment.

Not the last role in the work of any enterprise is played by the human factor. Employees who will work in the organization must have the appropriate qualifications and knowledge. In addition, all people involved in production and taking part in this must undergo regular training and instruction in safety regulations.

Recycling glass containers as a business requires the constant availability of raw materials and a market for the finished product. When planning activities in this area, special attention should be paid to suppliers, the purchase of glass containers, cullet and the search for buyers for recycled glass. An important role is played by the equipment installed in the production (including its quality).

Recycling Business Equipment

Equipment for glass processing should be specialized. Technique can only produce broken glass products or its remelting.

The plant is equipped with the following units:

sink for washing and disinfection of glass containers, cullet, other glass waste;
Dryer;
a separator for sorting glass by color (with the possibility of financial costs for the unit);
machine for crushing raw materials into a homogeneous mass;
magnet for removing metal objects;
melting furnace;
fill forms.

You can install only a washer, crusher and dryer, since the cost of such a kit is much cheaper than a complete one, but the income from the sale of finished products will be much lower.

Use of recycled glass

Fight after processing finds application in construction, decor and other areas. Glass recycling allows the use of bottles, cans, scrap windows, aquariums, instrument elements, optics for the manufacture of glass concrete, glass-filled concrete, foam glass, glass wool, silicate glue, fiberglass, decor elements, souvenirs, containers, stained glass windows.

Glass concrete and glass-filled concrete is a durable, acid and moisture resistant material. Due to the inclusion of small and large slaughter, it has less weight than concrete and an attractive appearance. Concrete filled with large glass elements is used for pouring floors and foundations.

Foam glass is an inexpensive, high-quality heat insulator. Due to its porous structure, it is widely used for insulation of residential and industrial buildings.

Glass wool - the most famous product, recycling scrap glass. The material is used as a heater with high chemical resistance.

Silicate glue or liquid glass is a versatile material that is widely used for:

production of refractory paints;
strengthening the soil;
wood surface coating production;
making adhesives for cellulose-based materials;
production of cement and concrete resistant to moisture and acids;
impregnation of fabrics;
oil purification.

Fiberglass is a strand of glass that bends but does not break or break. It is used to create fiberglass, which is indispensable in the construction and functional decoration of premises.

Using melting furnaces, molds for pouring glass, as well as glass-blowing equipment, it is possible to organize piece or industrial production of containers, souvenirs and other things.

What documentation is required to start a business

Glass recycling as a business requires the correct execution of permits.

To conduct scrap processing activities, you must have a legal status in the tax office. It can be a sole proprietorship or an LLC (limited liability company). If less than a hundred people are involved in production, then it is more convenient to issue an IP by paying a single tax (6% of gross income or 15% of income). Being an individual entrepreneur in the case of cullet recycling is much more profitable and easier than organizing an LLC.

When making legal entity the tax authority is required to submit a taxpayer identification number (TIN), the original and a copy of the passport, an application for registration of a legal entity, a receipt for payment of state duty. In the process of filling out documents, it is important to correctly indicate the code according to the All-Russian Classifier of Types of Economic Activities (OKVED). For glass processing, it is optimal to choose: 38.32 - recycling of sorted materials; 57 - sale of scrap with waste.

Before recycling of cullet begins, a license must be obtained from the Ministry of Ecology. To do this, you will need to submit a project of the enterprise, which will list the equipment with an indication of its functions, as well as characterize the production process. Permitting documents can be issued both in the department of the department, and using the portal of the State Service.

In addition, the relevant services will assess the implementation of fire safety standards in the premises, sanitary, fire-prevention working and production conditions, after which they will issue a permit to conduct activities.

Organization of supply of raw materials

Starting a business in glass bottles, you need to find raw materials for the uninterrupted production of recyclables. Despite the fact that the problem of the widespread accumulation of glass containers and broken glass is quite acute, processing enterprises need to look for raw materials that are suitable for disposal and further reprocessing.

One of the most simple ways obtaining raw materials - opening a point for receiving glass containers and glass scrap. In this case, for a small fee, the population buys material that meets the requirements of processing.

Enterprises manufacturing windows, glass containers, light bulbs, dishes, storage containers can become a permanent supplier of raw materials. chemical substances and other glass products. At the same time, both organizations will receive mutually beneficial cooperation. Production waste from the glass manufacturing company will be removed on time, and not accumulated. The recycling company will acquire a stable flow of raw materials necessary for recycling.

If there are sufficient financial resources, it is rational to conclude an agreement with the leadership of the locality and install containers for collecting glass waste. This is an innovative approach to solving the problems of supplying raw materials, and pays for itself in the case of the “consciousness” of the population, which is ready to sort household waste. Unfortunately, at this stage economic development separation household waste does not enjoy wide popularity among the townsfolk, officials and entrepreneurs.

Glass recycling process

Not all glass products are recyclable. Tempered glass is not processed, as well as products with the addition of various impurities that change the composition and characteristics of the material.

Recycling of glass containers begins with the sorting of raw materials at the points of reception, and later at the processing plant. All products, as well as scrap, are divided according to the type and color of the material in accordance with GOST R 52233-2004:

green cullet (GS);
brown (CS);
colorless (BS);
brown leaf (CL);
colorless (BL);
brown tare (CT);
semi-white container cullet (PTS);
semi-white sheet cullet (PLS).

Separation of containers and scrap can be done both manually and with the help of appropriate units. The cost of such equipment is quite high, but its use significantly speeds up the entire production process.

After careful distribution of the glass, the material is washed, treated with disinfectants and dried (water must drain or dry with warm air).

The next stage is the extraction of foreign objects from the prepared raw materials. Metal inclusions are removed with the help of magnets, other debris (ceramics, paper, plastic, etc.) - at screening units.

The cleaned cullet is crushed by shredders. The particle size of the finished material depends on the equipment and the needs of further production.

The subsequent process is carried out in accordance with the purpose of the organization. Some enterprises are engaged only in sorting and crushing glass, while others are involved in the remelting of raw materials and the manufacture of products.

Properties and chemical composition of products

Standard glass consists mainly of river sand, soda and lime, where sand makes up three-quarters of the total volume of substances. The set of components, as well as their percentage ratio in different types of glass is different, which directly affects the properties of the material.

Soda glass (sodium-calcium) is light and clean. It is easy to handle because it is soft.

Potassium-calcium glass is shiny, but not plastic.

Crystal (lead glass) is a soft but heavy material. It has a high degree of refraction and is very shiny.

Borosilicate glass is used in the manufacture of laboratory glassware because it is resistant to harsh chemicals.

Quartz glass is resistant to sudden changes in temperature, high temperatures. The material is transparent to ultraviolet rays, solid, with a minimum coefficient of thermal expansion.

The main property of any glass (regardless of additives) is the possibility of multiple processing and remelting.

Main types of waste

All glass waste is divided into two types:

recyclable;
non-recyclable.

The first group includes transparent containers and utensils: jars, bottles, glasses, glass plates and other utensils, laboratory containers, sheet glass. In addition, they include manufacturing defects in the manufacture of various glass products, as well as damaged (broken) products.

Mirrors, windshields of cars, fight with organic impurities are not subject to processing.

At the same time, there is practically no waste when recycling glass scrap. Partly, there is garbage removed from the battlefield before crushing (metal, ceramics, paper, plastic, etc.), which can be recycled. Therefore, the glass recycling business is practically waste-free production.

How much can you earn from waste disposal?

Prices for glass waste at collection points are low, since processing enterprises need to recoup not only raw materials (glass containers), but also other investments (equipment, rental of premises, utilities, etc.). The cost of one bottle of beer (clean without a label) is no more than 1 ruble per piece, a bottle of vodka or wine - up to 50 kopecks, and for one can, depending on the volume - no more than four rubles.

The expenses of the processing organization for production include:

company registration;
payment of duties and taxes;
lease (purchase) of land;
rent (purchase, construction) of production premises;
rent (purchase, construction) of premises for a glass container collection point;
acquisition, installation, maintenance of equipment;
purchase of raw materials;
Payment of utility services;
pay wages;
purchase of various consumables;
transportation costs for the delivery of raw materials and finished products.

At the same time, processing glass bottles and other products brings a good profit - about 500,000 per month, if about 10 tons of products are manufactured during this period.

Glass is one of the few materials that can be recycled indefinitely without loss of quality. In Russia, the collection system for glass bottles works to some extent in most fairly large settlements, since it is beneficial for people who donate glass containers and manufacturers who use them.

Collected containers can be used in two ways: broken and then recycled or washed, disinfected and reused. Reuse requires less energy, so it's more environmentally friendly and often more cost effective.

In 2010, according to the estimates of the research company Abercade in Russia, unbroken containers accounted for 97% of all collected glass, and cullet accounted for 3%. On July 1, 2012, new technical regulations “On the safety of packaging” came into force, and all glass containers that come into contact with baby food were defined as cullet, so the amount of cullet became slightly larger.

Why is recycling good for the environment?

Although reuse preferable to recycling, glass recycling is also beneficial as it reduces energy consumption, saves on landfill space and conserves natural resources.

New glass is made from four main components: sand, soda ash, limestone and other components added to obtain the desired color or special properties. Although there is actually no shortage of these raw materials, they all need to be mined first, and this is associated with energy costs, landscape change and additional pollution. environment.

Previously, there was virtually no technology to recycle glass bottles into new ones, and recycled glass was often used only to create building materials such as foam glass. Now there is such an opportunity, but in Russia this technology is not very popular. Of the major manufacturers, it is used by Baltika, which takes a more responsible approach to environmental issues.

Glass container recycling technology after it has been collected:

Bottle sorting.
Bottle crushing.
Removal of contaminants. A magnet can also be used to remove metal caps or other metal inclusions.
If sorting was not performed at an earlier stage, then it is carried out at this stage using automated system optical sorting. Manual sorting of glass at this stage is very difficult and dangerous. sorting system with optical sensors determines the color of the glass, and then blows it off with an air jet on the conveyor corresponding to the color. Easiest to recycle clear glass so it is the most valuable.
If necessary, the glass is mixed with the raw material to improve the color and/or properties. Crushed glass is mixed with soda ash, sand and limestone.
The resulting composition is cooked in an oven heated to 1200 - 1550 ° C. recycled glass melts at a lower temperature than the raw material used to make glass from scratch. That's why large quantity recycled glass gives great energy savings.
Formation of new bottles or cans. The bright orange molten glass is cut into pieces (or drops) from which molding machines create finished bottles.
After that, the products are thermally treated in annealing furnaces to relieve internal stresses in the glass.
Further, visual and technical quality control of products is carried out.

Various types of glass

There are many types of glass, but in everyday life, for jars and bottles, soda-lime-silicate glass is mainly used. It is important not to mix Various types glass as they are recycled differently.

Other types of glass used in everyday life (these types of glass are recycled much less often):

borosilicate glass - used for heat-resistant dishes for open fires and for teapots.
Lead glass (or "crystal") - used for decorative glassware.
Fiberglass - for insulation and in fiber optic cables.

Problems of recycling glass bottles

The main problem in the recycling of glass bottles is the contamination of the collected glass. Not everyone wants to deal with the cleaning of containers, sorting. Because of this, and with the relatively low cost of raw materials for glass production, the recycling of bottles into new bottles is not very popular.

Bottle recycling is a fairly simple process, but it is difficult to organize, especially in Russia, because we are not accustomed to separate collection garbage. Often people believe that it is pointless to donate bottles for a penny, and it even seems to someone that it is shameful - bottles are usually collected and donated by vagrants and the poor. Therefore, the bottles are simply thrown away with the rest of the garbage, with little concern for the state of landfills and the environment. Let's try to extend the life of glass bottles and jars, because it's so simple. Let's collect and recycle waste separately, this will save resources and save nature.

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At the moment, various products made of glass materials are in great demand. Technology makes it possible to produce a wide variety of objects of all colors and shapes, opening up great opportunities for designers and artists. As before, a large share of the market for the consumption of glass products is occupied by enterprises producing alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Manufacturers of tableware, metal-plastic windows, and the furniture industry are sources of constant and stable demand for glass.It is the presence of such a large number potential consumers makes the glass business attractive for investment.

Glass production in detail

If the amount of initial investment is small, then it is advisable to open the production of cullet - products obtained as a result of cleaning and crushing glass containers. This type of raw material is even more popular than finished products, since each consumer produces their own unique products - there are no templates and unified forms for a long time.

Advantages of a mini-factory over large-scale production

A mini-factory for the processing of glass containers has a number of advantages over large enterprises:

requires several times less capital investment;
fast payback periods;
mobility - ease of transportation of equipment and assembly;
the ability to modernize and expand the production line, thereby increasing the number of manufactured products;
does not require large industrial areas and staff.

Considering the possibility of producing glass products and processing containers for battle, some points should be taken into account:

processing has a simple technological cycle, while it does not require much time and resources, while production, on the contrary, is a long, labor-intensive and resource-intensive process;
cullet is a versatile raw material that can then be used in the manufacture of any product, and the glass production and processing business is usually narrowly focused, meeting the needs of a limited number of consumers, for example, only the manufacture of bottles. In this case, expand the line oriented to the new kind production, will be quite an expensive project;
thanks to simple technology, cullet processing requires a minimum amount of equipment, therefore, lower capital investments that quickly pay off and the business begins to generate a net profit;
the glass container recycling plant can be located in a rented premises - this also reduces the initial investment.

Equipment and production technology

Manufacturing technology contains several stages:

Sheet glass is more in demand, and it is the easiest to produce. A novice entrepreneur should limit the assortment to sheet or window glass. Everything will need to be worked out. technological stages, and manufacture products that meet certain requirements:

transparency - the final product should have a light transparency in the range of 84-87%;
the presence of single point defects, such as gas bubbles, foreign inclusions, etc., is allowed;
strength - the final product must withstand loads up to 250 MPa - this is achieved by proper hardening;
heat resistance - should be at the level of 1750 o C.

Necessary equipment:

feedstock loading hopper;
transportation conveyor;
glass furnace;
rolls for cooling;
conveyor belt for pulling the finished mass;
cutting table.

A mini-factory for the production of glass products can be purchased for an average of 200 thousand euros. The price will depend on the power and performance. Russian company ZKM Steklo sells equipment that can produce up to 600 tons per day with continuous operation, consuming electricity up to 100 thousand megawatts per year and gas - up to 100 million m 3. The payback period when operating at full capacity will be about two years.

cullet processing lines

The simplest, from the point of view of the technological cycle, is a mini-factory for the production of cullet. This is the best option for a limited budget. The mini-factory consists of the following units:

accommodation and temporary storage station cullet and defective products:
loading and unloading machines;
conveyor belt for transportation;
electronic equipment for sorting raw materials by color;
water installations for cleaning the battle from pollution;
electromagnetic equipment for the determination of metal particles in cullet;
crushers for crushing glass cullet to a state of fine powder;
packaging machines.

The cost of equipment for processing cullet produced at the domestic plant "Tula Machines" starts from 300 thousand rubles. Any set of equipment can be supplemented with elements that contribute to the expansion of the range of products, increase productivity and reduce the share of manual labor. Accordingly, along with the improvement, the cost will also increase.

On average, a mini processing plant can process up to 500 tons of raw materials per hour. It is noteworthy that this is a waste-free production - absolutely the entire volume of raw materials is processed into powder. This is another advantage of such an enterprise.

Technological stages of cullet processing

Whole technological process It is quite simple and comes down to a few basic steps:

For glass processing, it is necessary to correctly approach the purchase of raw materials:

it is possible to conclude agreements with industrial enterprises and accept defective products, scrap or trimmings from them;
buy from the population by organizing points for receiving bottles and glass containers;
place specialized containers for glass waste near city garbage cans.

Obtaining raw materials in any way, its average cost will be from 1500 to 2000 rubles per ton.

Economic benefits and payback periods

Undoubtedly, the glass or cullet business is quite profitable. There are not so many competitors in the industry yet, and demand is consistently high. Therefore, with full implementation, the payback period can be from 8 to 24 months, depending on the size of the initial capital investment.

Preliminary calculation of business payback periods:

the cost of selling 1 ton of cullet is up to 3000 - this is twice the price of the purchase of raw materials;
two people per shift can serve the line;
productivity - up to 200 tons per shift. When working in two shifts of 8 hours, up to 10,000 tons can be produced per month;
monthly sales proceeds - 25,000,000 rubles;
current costs for the purchase of raw materials - 20,000,000 rubles;
other costs (wages, utility bills, rent of premises, maintenance of management personnel) - 1,000,000 rubles;
profit - 4,000,000 rubles;
capital costs for the acquisition of equipment of such capacity - 5,000,000 rubles.

When allocating 30% of profit per month to cover capital costs, the payback period will be 6 months.

Video: Thin Sheet Glass Factory

The problem of cullet processing has now become one of the most acute and there are reasons for this.

First, the production of glass products requires huge energy costs.

Secondly, cullet is one of the most hard-to-recycle waste(along with steel, it can take decades to break down) and causes significant environmental damage.

Given the significant share of cullet in the total volume of solid waste, according to some estimates, it reaches 20% (according to MGUP Promothody, only in Moscow it accumulates up to 160,000 tons of cullet per year), there is a need to develop technologies for the use of glass waste.

Glass waste can be useful both in art and in everyday life

Technologies for the use of glass waste

Foam glass

The priority area for the use of cullet (due to the content of silica, alkaline oxides, Al2O3 and CaO) is the production of binders for autoclave and non-autoclave hardening.

The most promising direction in this area is the production foam glass- highly porous inorganic heat-insulating material obtained by sintering finely ground glass and a blowing agent. The raw material for its production can be both cullet and glass mass welded from quartz sand, limestone, soda and sodium sulfate. At the same time, the use of cullet, due to its low cost per Russian market, leads to a significant reduction in the cost of production.

Foam glass finishing, foam glass products

Due to the fact that foam glass is almost 100% glass, it has a wide temperature range of application, is non-flammable, resistant to aggressive environments and does not shrink. Therefore, the scope of its application is quite wide: from industrial and civil construction to the nuclear industry.

The world leader in the production of foam glass is the corporation Pittsburg Corning (USA). Foam glass is also produced in China ( Lanzhou Pengfei Heat Preservation Co., Ltd.), Belarus ( OJSC "Gomelsteklo"), and more recently in Russia ( CJSC "Penosital", LLC "Express-Stroyindustriya", Penostek).

Binders based on cullet

The creation of binders based on cullet is carried out in MGSU. It has already been possible to obtain several new building materials based on this binder with high physical, mechanical and operational properties:

fine-grained concrete(the share of cullet in the composition of the material reaches 95%) - is made by mineralization of foam with cullet powder;
alkaline earth binder with the use of alkaline consolidators (share of cullet from 6.5% to 45%) - slag-glass binder of non-autoclave hardening.

These materials, as well as foam glass, have increased protective, anti-corrosion and other properties, their scope is industrial and civil construction, chemical, nuclear, food industries, etc. Now MGSU is creating technologies for the production of these materials.

Decorative items

Studies on the production of new materials from glass waste were also carried out in MGUIE. Together with Ecotormit JSC they have developed technology and equipment to obtain microwares(microptarics, microspheres, beaded balls), decorative facing materials(facade, interior and paving slabs), coating highly filled compositions(glass tiles, paints and varnishes, anti-corrosion mastics) and cement mortars based on cullet. In particular, it is proposed anti-corrosion compound, in which cullet micro-products are used as a bitumen base filler, designed for processing and restoring coatings of the bottom and wheel arches of a car body, as well as for protecting chemical and oil and gas equipment. Due to glass fillers increases hydrophobicity And adhesive ability, increases the impact strength and heat resistance of the coating, increases the penetrating ability of the applied composition.

Interested in a glass recycling business? Then you may be interested in, prepared by IAA Cleandex.

Industry issues

We see that there are many advantages of materials made on the basis of glass waste, the tests also showed that materials based on cullet are not inferior, and in some cases even surpass similar traditional materials in terms of technological and functional properties. And the profitability of the production of these materials is very high. The question arises: Why are there so few industries using these technologies? The answer is obvious - to organize the production of materials based on cullet, it is necessary significant investment into specialized equipment. In addition, there are problems with raw materials- despite the large stocks and low cost of cullet in Russia, the enterprises involved in its collection and sale are few, respectively, additional costs may be required for the organization own collection of glass waste.

Exit in the current situation may be state support— organizing eco-funds for investing in such projects and reducing taxes for enterprises that introduce new technologies for the processing of glass waste.