Yesterday I went to throw some trash away and I noticed several windshields in the dumpster. After seeing it I thought about an article that I read in the Boston Globe: “Nationally, 11 million windshields are replaced annually. At an average weight of 25 pounds each, this equates to about 275 million pounds of waste per year. It is very complicated to recycle windshields because the glass is 2-ply laminated and contains a layer of polyvinyl butyral that has to be separated.”
However, windshield repairs are environmentally friendly and the waste produced from a repair fits in the palm of your hand and weighs less than one ounce. Being green is easy plus important and people across the world are taking small steps that make a difference with the environment. The more that we all contribute in reducing the use of raw materials and the energy required to produce windshields, the better off our environment will be, making windshield repair the only environmentally friendly option. So in my opinion, we need to continue promoting windshield repairs and explaining the benefits of it.
i do it several times a day. i feel compelled to tell insurance costomers why it is "free" not one single person can understand why w/s can not and are not recycled. korey you wrote it had to be, separated glass and laminate. did not know that. most people think like myself think it would just be ground up and heated and melted away. there are plastic labels on bottles and i don't think they have people separating labels and bottles. that i am guessing a different plastic/pvb
paul
Well as a matter of fact: there are ways to recycle, I have been at such a recycle plant here in Europe.
The current plants/systems are just not very efficient nor profitable -and that is of course an important factor in any business.
It was more something like a pilot. Today they have limited their operation to the removal of any type of metal that may have been attached to the glass.
The actual glass itself is still binned.
