Crushed Glass Beaches

Smashing! <Splutter>

OUCH!!!!

Beach sand grains have been rounded off by rubbing against each other over the course of their lifetime, which is centuries. So if waste glass is to be crushed and used as a replacement, then the glass sand has to be placed into a tumbler together with water and tumbled for many days before it is placed onto beaches. Spencer.

I presume that the crushed glass will be virtually a powder to avoid sharp edges but in the distant recesses of my old grey cells the use of powdered glass as a method of poisoning the wife/husband comes to mind - is this substance safe or just a figment of Agatha Cristie's fertile imagination?

If Florida is looking for a use for crushed glass I once saw an article in Popular Mechanics magazine, (circa 1960) where a 50gall drum of glass beads burried in a cellar was used as a night storage for hot water from a solar panel on the house roof - might still be a practical method of storing solar heat.

In order to preserve the beaches of Florida, I promise to drink only bottled beer and throw the empty bottles into the surf.

Is used glass that worthless that it is easier to crush and use the glass in this manner rather than wash and reuse bottles as we did way back when? I think society has just decided to be lazy.
Perhaps, we should begin with reimplementing charges on soda pop bottles and others. Disposal costs for these items (while creating new businesses) are not environmentally friendly (litter, etc.) and result in major costs for municipalities. Besides, it likely requires much more energy to produce new glass bottles than to clean and reuse them. Yes, I know that there are distribution and collection costs, but what a waste.

Hi aqua_doc, Over here in Europe this is what we do, we either collect the glass for crushing and reusing for new bottles, or we reuse the bottles after washing. Spencer.

There are quite a few states that have a deposit for soda cans and bottles. But if they aren't refilled they have to be re-melted and formed into new parts. This is a lot less expensive than smelting new aluminium. I have no idea how the economics work for glass. Is it really less expensive to grind the glass up into sand rather than re-melting the glass and making new bottles?

No it is much cheaper to remelt them and it saves on the glass making sand quartz. Also you have to prify the sand before it can be used for glass, this is not cheap. Spencer.

Oh dear what can the matter be? Ground up glass on beaches! Ug not on any beach I would ever go on. Why not use the glass in place of the sand used by the building trade? The more I read these days the more I cringe at the idiots out there, making more and more stupid decisions. Where's my gun? Damn it, can't find any thing these days. Baa, Doh, ...................!

Your are not speaking with any real knowledge on the matter. I own a business that uses several tons of crushed glass a year for abrasive blasting. You would have so see this stuff to believe it. I can pick up a hand full and vigorously rub my hands together as if I were washing them, no problem. Matter of fact, I would without hesitation walk barefoot or even roll without a shirt on in a pile of it. I don't know the exact science of the way the crush it, but it is all but impossible for it to cut or scratch human skin.

You have to remember, this stuff is small, they rate it my "mess" size, in other words what size screen it will fall through. We use a 10/40 mix mostly, it is about the same size as "00" sand.

The amazing thing about this discussion is that practical scale never seems to enter into it. the average American uses about 80 pounds of glass per year. So one million people use 80,000,000 pounds. A good recycling program (which I don't believe they have in Florida) can collect 50 percent of the glass generated. So that's 40,000,000 pounds from a million people. Or 20,000 tons per year. My recollection of the regional beach issue was that they used 20 million tons over a ten year period. That's 2 million tons per year. So at best, we're talking about one percent of the problem!

In addition, I know a little about glass processing equipment. Again, my recollection was that they were spending $20 per ton for mined sand. You cannot crush glass to sand equivalent (say 16 mesh and finer) for anywhere near $20 per ton AND get the labels out. you wouldn't want to see a beach where the sand included pieces of paper labels and aluminum caps. Abrasives guy, how much do you pay per ton?

Your are not speaking with any real knowledge on the matter. I own a business that uses several tons of crushed glass a year for abrasive blasting. You would have so see this stuff to believe it. I can pick up a hand full and vigorously rub my hands together as if I were washing them, no problem. Matter of fact, I would without hesitation walk barefoot or even roll without a shirt on in a pile of it. I don't know the exact science of the way the crush it, but it is all but impossible for it to cut or scratch human skin.

And as for respiratory health? Now I can put on sunscreen and check the filter on my dust mask while pondering toxic sludge.

I own a business that uses ......crushed glass ........for abrasive blasting Me too - even quite large pieces (1/4 inch or so) are not sharp. The stuff I buy is like granulated sugar and I let it wear down to almost flour like consistency and it still removes paint! I'm currently designing a crusher that will involve a couple of lawnmowers, this being and upgrade from a hammer and a waste disposal unit!

Dear Sir,

We are starting a non-profit glass re cycling facility in North Idaho and we would like your input as to what our product may be worth. We don't expect you to actually be one of our customers ( that would be great, but what are the chances? ) just that you might lead us in the right direction. Let's say that you wanted to buy some crushed glass for your abrasive blasting business. Where would you go to get it, and what would you expect to pay for a ton? Also does the company deliver or do you have to go get it?

ewew921@gmail.com

HOW ABOUT LIGHT REFLCTION INDEX? IS IT HIGHER THAN NATURAL SAND?

In answer to the last two comments:

1) Glass contains no crystalline silica, and therefore airborne glass particles are less dangerous than airborne sand particles, which probably do.

2) Mixed colored glass crushed to 16 mesh has an opaque, khaki kind of color. It doesn't glisten, although you may see an occasional sparkle.

What is crystalline silica? Crystalline silica is a basic component of soil, sand, granite, and many other minerals. Quartz is the most common form of crystalline silica. Cristobalite and tridymite are two other forms of crystalline silica. All three forms may become respirable size particles when workers chip, cut, drill, or grind objects that contain....

From: http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/crystalline-factsheet.pdf

Wikipedia:

Glass is a noncrystalline material that can maintain indefinitely, if left undisturbed, its overall form and amorphous microstructure at a temperature below its glass transition temperature.