This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is focused on the reuse of waste glass to generate high-value replacements for traditional masonry products. Masonry manufacturers cannot meet the construction industry's needs with their status quo product and are therefore losing market share. The industry seeks products with higher quality, consistency and performance that address environmental concerns, while remaining cost competitive. The material which has been developed meets or exceeds all required performance standards, and its high recycle content and low embodied energy significantly reduce production costs. The research objectives for this Phase II project include scale-up of this process via extrusion and expansion of the usable waste glass supply. The transition to extrusion will require increasing the plasticity of our material and research will result in extrudates that are compatible with masonry production equipment. The effort will also explore the impacts of contamination on the microstructure and mechanical performance of glass materials sintered at low temperature; this work will be the first of its kind. The ultimate project goal is successful development of the first high-recycle content glass composite paste that is ready for industrial manufacturing via cold extrusion.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is significant. Successful completion of the Phase II activities will have a positive impact on both the glass recycling and construction industries. One key result will be the development of a novel, high-efficiency glass manufacturing process. This work will contribute to the scientific understanding of plasticity theory and mechanical behavior with respect to glass composites and porous materials. The evaluation of organic and inorganic contaminants, as they relate to advanced glass processing technologies, will be the first research of its kind. This research will provide a commercial outlet for waste glass, particularly the vast quantity that cannot currently be recycled, and therefore is simply hauled off to landfills. This material will allow manufacturers to adopt high-value, cost-competitive product lines and will also bring value to the construction industry by providing a truly green alternative to traditional facing materials. The environmental and societal impacts of this novel building material include improving environmental quality by decreasing energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions, and also by minimizing the burden on solid waste storage infrastructure.
