Among the key topics was the circularity of automotive glass. Justin Loup, who oversees automotive product policy issues at Glass for Europe, presented the current state of automotive glazing recycling in Europe and discussed the opportunities and challenges associated with increasing recovery rates.

Automotive glass is currently rarely recycled, representing a significant opportunity to reduce raw material consumption, production energy use and associated CO₂ emissions. However, systematic dismantling and recycling also involve technical and economic challenges that have limited wider adoption.

The recently published End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation (ELVR) is expected to significantly change this landscape. The regulation will require the dismantling of most automotive glazing, representing around 70% of vehicle glass, and its recycling into glass. It also introduces Extended Producer Responsibility schemes intended to support end-of-life treatment.

Future vehicle glazing will bring additional challenges. Cameras, sensors, advanced interlayers and solar technologies are increasingly integrated into glazing systems. Designing these components for efficient separation and dismantling will therefore be essential to enable effective glass recycling at the vehicle’s end of life.

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Recycled glass currently accounts for an average of 77% of the material used in Wiegand-Glas’ new glass containers, compared with a national average of around 60%. For green glass, the recycled content can exceed 95%.

Glass can be recycled repeatedly without losing its quality. According to Wiegand-Glas, every additional 10 percentage points of recycled content can save 2–3% in energy consumption and reduce CO₂ emissions. At the company, the use of recycled glass contributes to approximately 215,000 tonnes of CO₂ savings each year.

However, Wiegand-Glas says the recycling loop now requires modernisation. While sorting technology has advanced significantly, logistics, collection and processing costs, as well as material quality, remain important challenges.

Managing Director Nikolaus Wiegand stresses that maintaining the recycling loop will require closer cooperation between industry, government, associations and consumers. Efficient collection and correct sorting remain essential to keeping waste glass in circulation as a valuable secondary raw material.

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The project addresses a growing waste challenge: global PV waste is projected to exceed 210 million tonnes by 2050, while glass represents approximately 70–95% of a solar panel’s total weight. Recovering this glass at high quality could significantly reduce demand for virgin raw materials and lower the environmental impact of glass production.

Within PHOTORAMA, Maltha contributed to the quality assessment of recovered PV glass, cullet production and industrial trials. Advanced delamination processes separate glass, metals and polymers while maintaining the quality of the recovered materials.

A key milestone was the successful incorporation of 75 tonnes of recycled solar panel glass into new flat glass production at an industrial manufacturing facility. The project also investigated direct reuse of recovered glass in new photovoltaic modules, with testing indicating performance comparable to modules manufactured with virgin glass.

Remaining challenges include antimony (Sb) contamination, technology scaling, regulatory requirements and market acceptance. Nevertheless, the results demonstrate the potential for PV glass to become a high-value secondary raw material within a circular solar industry.

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The recovered glass came from a building owned by the University of Tokyo and consisted of 12 mm ceramic-printed tempered glass with safety film. After collection, an intermediate processor sorted the material and removed the safety film. The recovered glass was then introduced into the float furnace at NSG’s Chiba Plant in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, during manufacturing trials in late August 2026.

NSG evaluated both product quality and the impact of the recycled material on furnace operations. The trials confirmed that, under defined conditions, the post-consumer glass could be used as a recycled raw material without adverse effects on production or product quality.

Not all recovered glass could enter the float-glass process. Material still containing safety film was instead processed for use as a raw material in glass wool production, demonstrating an alternative recycling route.

The project addresses one of the major challenges in flat-glass recycling: contamination from films, metals and other materials can make post-consumer cullet unsuitable for float production.

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Reiling Group operates 14 glass recycling sites across Germany and Europe, where flat glass passes through several processing stages. The first requirement is the separate collection of different glass streams, allowing materials such as window glass, automotive glass and laminated products to be processed according to their composition.

The material is mechanically crushed and broken down, while composite components are separated from the glass fraction. Films, plastics and metallic contaminants are removed through a combination of technologies, including magnetic separation, non-ferrous metal separation, vacuum extraction and electro-optical sorting.

The objective is to produce a clean and consistent glass cullet fraction suitable for remelting. This recycled material can be supplied particularly to the float glass and container glass industries, where it replaces part of the virgin raw-material input.

The use of cullet has direct process benefits. Because recycled glass melts at a lower temperature than the raw materials required to produce new glass, increasing cullet content can reduce furnace energy demand and associated CO₂ emissions, while simultaneously lowering the consumption of primary resources such as sand, soda ash and limestone.

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The facility was officially inaugurated on 20 August 2026 and was developed with financial support through Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), part of the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. Financing was supported through the Environmental Fund Administration (AFM), with maib acting as financial partner.

The plant is designed to receive, crush, sort and clean collected glass, transforming post-consumer material into secondary raw material suitable for industrial applications. By increasing domestic processing capacity, the project aims to reduce the amount of glass waste sent to landfill while strengthening Romania’s circular-economy infrastructure.

The investment also has a regional dimension. ABS 2000 is managed by Serghei Balica, whose business activities extend into Moldova, where ABS Recycling collects and processes PET bottles. The new Buzău facility expands the group’s operations into glass recycling and could support future material flows between Romania, Moldova and other markets in Southeast Europe.

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Launched in 2021, the scheme enables installers to divert old IGUs removed during window and door replacement projects from landfill. The collected units are crushed by Morley Glass, producing cullet that can be returned to glass manufacturing as a secondary raw material.

As of August 2026, the company has produced 4,332 bags of cullet, equivalent to more than 3,000 tonnes. Morley Glass estimates that approximately one tonne of cullet is generated from every two bags, although actual quantities vary depending on the material collected.

The environmental impact is significant. According to the company, the recycled glass has saved an estimated 2,220 tonnes of CO₂ emissions and reduced demand for virgin sand by approximately 4,641 tonnes. The energy savings are equivalent to around 1,674 years of electricity consumption for an average home, based on the company’s calculation that one tonne of cullet saves enough energy to power a home for six months.

The initiative also supports communities through the GreenVision fund. Revenue generated from the cullet has so far financed 452 grants for environmental and social projects, including school gardening initiatives, youth clubs, sports development and animal welfare.

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Glass is one of the few building materials that can be recycled indefinitely without losing its essential properties. By incorporating recycled content into the manufacturing process, Press Glass UK helps reduce waste, conserve natural raw materials and support the transition towards a more circular economy.

Using recycled glass also requires significantly less energy than producing glass solely from virgin raw materials. This lowers energy consumption during manufacturing and contributes to reducing the overall carbon footprint of construction projects, making it an attractive option for architects, developers and homeowners seeking more sustainable building solutions.

Despite its environmental advantages, recycled glass delivers the same strength, clarity and long-term performance as conventionally manufactured glass. It is suitable for a wide range of residential glazing applications, offering an effective balance between aesthetics, durability and sustainability.

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As Japan approaches a wave of PV system decommissioning beyond 2030, the need for effective recycling solutions is increasing. PV cover glass has been particularly difficult to reuse due to its specialised composition and strong encapsulation materials.

For this trial, the glass was recovered using Tokuyama Corporation’s low-temperature thermal decomposition technology at its Hokkaido facility. The extracted material was then introduced into the raw batch at NSG Group’s Chiba Plant float furnace in Ichihara during a controlled manufacturing run.

The trial evaluated both product quality and operational stability, confirming that recycled PV cover glass can be reused under defined conditions without compromising performance. This establishes a viable pathway for horizontal recycling within float glass production.

The process supports reduced consumption of primary raw materials such as silica sand and soda ash, while increasing cullet usage improves furnace efficiency and lowers CO₂ emissions.

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The latest figures show that amber glass containers now contain 60 percent PCR content, while white flint glass has reached 42 percent. These improvements demonstrate Beatson Clark’s commitment to reducing reliance on virgin raw materials and lowering carbon emissions associated with glass production.

A key factor behind this progress is the company’s integrated recycling capabilities. Beatson Clark remains the only glass manufacturer in the UK to operate its own on-site glass recycling plant, enabling full control over the quality and consistency of recycled material used in production.

Each year, the company processes approximately 44,000 tonnes of waste glass sourced from kerbside collections, bottle banks, and the hospitality sector. This recovered glass is cleaned, sorted, and melted in furnaces to produce new bottles and jars, effectively closing the loop within the glass lifecycle.

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