| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: In the near future, building materials, such as floor and wall tiles, insulation materials and concrete, could be fashioned from bits of waste glass at only a fraction of its current recycling cost.
After a year of research, a team from the Centre of Innovation in Environmental and Water Technology at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), believes it has come up with a greener alternative by converting waste glass into building materials by crushing and blending the glass with an eco-friendly binding agent.
This is significant, said centre director Tam Li Phin.
"If we can harness technology to innovate and produce new materials from waste, this will not only create new business opportunities for local enterprises but also promote sustainable living," added Mrs Tam.
Last year, more than 57,000 tonnes of waste glass was generated in Singapore.
Currently, waste glass is either dumped at the Pulau Semakau landfill or sold to recycling companies overseas where the glass is re-melted at temperatures of 1,600°C.
Not only is this method expensive, it also consumes a lot of energy and generates massive amounts of carbon dioxide and other toxic gases.
The NP team said they are able to produce the building materials from glass that has been re-melted at only 100°C.
The Centre of Innovation's Dr Sun Xiaolong said the method is not only cheaper, but waste glass can also be used to create "money-spinning products" for use by the construction industry, thus reducing the "over-reliance on the supply of sand and cement from other countries".
The centre is in discussions with "several key industry" players to form a consortium to develop and market the green building product, as well as explore its potential for public housing projects.
The project will be on display at NP's Open House from January 7 to 9.
- TODAY/so
|
