Samenvatting
This research aims to apply circular economy principles to the life-cycle of architectural flat glass, a material that is primarily used in windows of buildings.Today, end-of-life flat glass from deconstruction and renovation sites is mainly recovered to low-grade fill applications, brought to the incinerator, or put into landfill. As an alternative for this linear ‘make, take, waste’ model, this research develops closed-loop alternatives for end-of-life flat glass that support the transition towards a circular life-cycle of flat glass. The closed-loop alternatives considered are repair, reuse, repurpose, and recycle. In this research, the environmental impact of each closed-loop is discussed and the barriers that limit them to niche markets are identified.
Repair, reuse, and repurpose consist of interventions such as replacing the seal, cleaning the glass, improving the thermal performance, and remanufacturing the glass unit for reuse or repurpose. These interventions prevent new production of flat glass by extending the service life of architectural flat glass, which in turn saves all the raw materials, energy, and CO2 associated with this process. A less significant, but still positive environmental impact is achieved with recycling flat glass. Reusing this cullet to make new flat glass products generates resource, energy and CO2 savings during the production process. Furthermore, flat glass producers are requesting party for high-quality flat glass cullet, because the energy savings lead to economic benefits.
There are three main barriers encountered in this research. The first is the technical and economic feasibility to selectively collect or reclaim flat glass due to the labour intensive deconstruction process, logistics, transport, and storage provisions. The second barrier is the inflexible standards that thermally limit the repair, reuse, and repurpose of flat glass. The last main barrier concerns the conventional design approach in which designers rely on newly manufactured products, instead of considering the products on the second-hand market.
Finally, this research concludes that the education and collaboration of all actors involved in the glass industry and the development of technologies of sorting and smarter product use and manufacture will lead to a circular life-cycle of flat glass.
| Datum prijs | 29 jun 2020 |
|---|---|
| Originele taal | English |
| Begeleider | Niels De Temmerman (Promotor) & Waldo Galle (Co-promotor) |