Use of waste glass to produce glass wool. Approximately 40,000 tonnes of glass waste of various types is generated annually in Estonia. Most of this glass waste is landfilled or downcycled to low-quality products (concrete products, filling material etc). The aim of the planned project is to use waste glass to produce glass wool. The plant is designed based on new and proprietary technology which melts the glass electrically and forms fibres from it. As such, this technology would be unique in Estonia.
The process consists of the following main phases:
1.Storage and preparation of the raw materials (crushed glass, sand, soda ash, etc.);
2.Melting of the raw materials (at temperatures of 1,300 °C to 1,500 °C);
3.Fibre production – centrifugal machines provided with spinning wheels transform melted material into thin fibres using centrifugal force and hot air pressure;
4.Splitting of fibres;
5.Drying;
6.Final shaping of the product;
7.Packaging.
Facility size and planned capacity – input: approximately 13,000–15,000 t of waste glass per year. Output: 18,000 tonnes of glass wool per year.
Expected outcome:
Improvement of waste management system: Up to 15,000 t of waste glass recycled per year 18,000 t of glass wool produced per year.
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