German glass recyclers tackle tough windscreens

Partners Reiling Glas Recycling and AGC Glass Europe are claiming success in the industrial recycling of pre-consumer automotive windscreens in a closed-loop cycle.

They say it represents a major step towards a fully circular economy for automotive glass. AGC already supports its own commitment in automotive production with a recycled content of over 56%. 

The pair are currently collaborating in the processing of pre- and post-consumer flat glass from the architectural sector. Building on this expertise, the partnership is being extended to the automotive industry. 

Reiling receives the pre-consumer car windscreens from AGC’s collection system, recycles them in its specialised recycling plants in Germany and provides AGC with the resulting high-quality cullet for the production of new automotive glass.

Greater streams

‘This creates a closed industrial flat glass-to-flat glass cycle for the manufacture of new automotive glass,’ says a press release. ‘This proven approach opens up the possibility of managing far larger waste streams from the aftermarket and end-of-life vehicles, which generate significant quantities across Europe.’ 

Recycling laminated glass for use in vehicles is a complex challenge. The processes have to deal with contaminants such as PVB interlayers, plastic coatings, metal wiring and electronic components.

‘The result is high-purity, recycled glass cullet that meets the stringent requirements of float glass manufacturing for the automotive industry,’ say the partners, adding the recycled content offers the same quality, safety, and performance as those made from virgin raw materials. 

Combined efforts

‘This is a testament to our combined innovative strength and our ability to transform waste glass into a high-quality resource for our automotive glass production,’ saysMarc Foguenne, vp for sustainability at AGC.

‘Making this process economically competitive with conventional materials is a challenge we are actively addressing but this success story clearly signals that the future of glass – including post-consumer windscreens – is circular.’

Marc Uphoff, md of Reiling Glas Recycling, adds: ‘Reusing glass cullet in automotive glass production is a demanding task, as the quality requirements for the glass cullet in this melting process are extremely high. Together with our long-standing partner AGC, we have now successfully achieved this goal and can jointly make a significant contribution to resource conservation and environmental protection.’

Reiling and AGC says the next step is to integrate used windscreens into the recycling loop.