Glass is known to be fully recyclable, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that only about a third of used glass is actually used. acquisition recycling. New glass-based building cladding could help increase that number.
Unlike siding, which is applied directly to the exterior of a building, cladding is applied with a narrow gap between it and the wall. Among other things, cladding helps a building retain heat, resist rainwater, and block out ambient noise.
The new cladding, developed by a team at RMIT University in Australia, consists of 83% frosted glass and would otherwise have ended up in a landfill. Other ingredients include polymeric binders and flame retardant additives.
These binders are important because they produce a much tougher cladding than previously developed all-glass cladding materials. Flame retardants are obviously also very important. To do Gaps between buildings act like chimneys and exacerbate fires.
As an added bonus, recycled glass cladding is claimed to be inexpensive, water resistant and to meet structural requirements.
Principal Investigator Assoc of RMIT said: Professor Dylan Robert. “Reusing glass that would otherwise end up in landfills provides environmental, economic and social benefits.”
A paper on this study was recently published in the journal construction and building materials.
Source: RMIT University
