GG263

GUIDE

ENVIRONMENTAL
TECHNOLOGY

BEST PRACTICE
PROGRAMME

COST SAVINGS FROM

REDUCING WASTE IN THE
GLASS AND GLAZING INDUSTRY

GOOD PRACTICE: Proven technology and techniques for profitable environmental improvement
FOREWORD

This document is a useful guide on

the best way to reduce waste and
save money for companies involved
in the glazing industry.
I would suggest that any company
involved in this area of business read
it to increase their profitability and
benefit the environment straight
away.

D E Ballard
Chief Executive
Glass and Glazing Federation

Glass and Glazing Federation

2
 INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The glass fabrication and processing industry carries out a wide range of activities. These activities progressively
add value to glass through the production process. Integrating good practice, from the delivery of materials to
the dispatch of finished products, ensures optimum efficiency, ie converting the maximum amount of material
purchased to saleable product using the least effort.

Waste minimisation is both good environmental practice and good business practice, and is the key to efficiency.
It helps to optimise raw materials use, staff time, utility consumption and waste management. Implementing a
systematic waste minimisation programme in your company will save you money - typically 1% of
business turnover. This benefit goes straight to the bottom line.

This Good Practice Guide explains the basic principles of waste minimisation and outlines key issues for the glass
fabrication and processing industry. Good practice tips for waste minimisation are given in four checklists covering
general glass processing activities, fabrication, processing and cullet management. Use the colour-coded margin
markers to help you find your way round the Guide. Principles are in green, issues are covered in the orange
section and tips are in pale green. Sources of further help and information are given at the end of the Guide.

The Guide was prepared following consultations with the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) and representative
companies from the fabrication and processing sectors.

Who should read this Guide?

This Guide is aimed at companies in the glass fabrication and processing sectors that use glass as a raw material
and carry out the following activities:

■ cutting;

■ arassing;

■ toughening;

■ laminating;

■ grinding and bevelling;

■ polishing;

■ drilling;

■ sandblasting;

■ acid processes;

■ bending;

■ sealed unit manufacture;

■ window assembly.
introduction

3
 BASIC PRINCIPLES

What is waste minimisation?

Reducing the amount of material used and waste What are the benefits of waste
generated while manufacturing the same amount of minimisation?
product reduces both your production costs and your
Implementing a systematic waste minimisation
company’s impact on the environment.
programme will:
Companies often start thinking about waste minimisation
■ Save you money. Typically 1% of business
by looking at how waste can be re-used or recycled.
turnover can be saved through waste minimisation -
However, waste is not just the contents of your skips and
generating extra profit through reduced production
bins. Waste is a much bigger issue and includes:
costs per finished item. For a company with a 10%
■ wasted raw materials; sales margin, a 1% reduction in costs equates to a
10% increase in profits.
■ wasted time;
■ Provide better control over your material/
■ wasted utilities (water, compressed air, gas,
utility consumption and waste management costs.
electricity and steam);
■ Reduce the cost of complying with environ-
■ rework costs;
mental legislation.
■ the costs of handling, storing, treating and
■ Improve your standing with customers
processing waste;
seeking assurance that their suppliers are
■ waste disposal costs. operating on a sound environmental basis.

Although quick savings can be made by re-using and Stop and think for a moment. How much
recycling waste, the real savings are achieved by business growth would be required to increase
preventing waste occurring in the first place. This your profits by 10%? The equivalent business
ensures that the ratio of materials and utilities growth can often be achieved by optimising
consumed to saleable product is as low as possible. efficiency on existing production and turnover, ie
Good environmental management and waste through a waste minimisation programme.
minimisation focus on how you manufacture products
and contribute directly to your company’s efficiency.
basic principles

4
 BASIC PRINCIPLES

How is waste minimisation The financial benefit of waste

achieved? minimisation
Waste minimisation is a cost-saving exercise, not an As well as reducing disposal costs, a successful in-
add-on cost. It is achieved through a range of house waste minimisation programme will also reduce
techniques including: your production costs. The ‘true cost’ of waste is a
function of how much added value has been put into
■ good housekeeping;
waste before it is lost from the production process. For
■ effective staff training; example, if a product is broken in the goods-out
department, causing it to be lost as waste, the true
■ preventing waste through quality checks at various
cost of that waste will be:
process stages;
True cost of waste =
■ material and utility management;
Cost of wasted raw materials + lost time + cost of
■ re-use and recycling; utilities used + waste treatment + disposal costs

■ modified or new processes involving cleaner For your main process waste (over a selected time
technology. period, eg a year or a week), including off-cuts and
damaged finished product, use Table 1 to estimate the
Many waste minimisation measures are no-cost or
true cost of waste to your business.
low-cost. They focus on good housekeeping, training
and procedures that ensure process and quality If you do not have all the data you need to fill in
controls identify problems early on. This is particularly Table 1, your accounts department will have readily
important in the glass fabrication and processing available information on materials and services
industry because identifying and preventing problems bought, product sold and waste disposal costs.
quickly avoids waste being generated during later
Once completed, Table 1 will reveal the ‘true cost’ of
production stages - when considerable value has been
the process waste your business generates. By
added to the glass.
minimising waste, the true cost to the business will be
returned as profit to your bottom line.

Table 1 Calculating the true cost of waste

Process waste Original raw Treatment and Estimated lost Total ‘true cost’
material cost (£) disposal costs (£) production time and of waste (£)
processing costs1 (£)

Glass cullet
162 tonnes/year 97 200 6 480 20 days @ £120/day 106 080

Water used
basic principles

Effluent

Energy used

TOTAL £ ………………… £ ………………… £ ………………… £ …………………

1 Can include lost production time and time spent disposing of waste. For example, breaking a finished unit may cost you the time you spent making it.

5
 BASIC PRINCIPLES

Integrating waste minimisation Making staff participation a fundamental part of an in-

good practice into your business house waste minimisation programme will nurture
greater ‘ownership’ of improvements and will lead to
Following the seven steps shown in Fig 1 will provide
further projects being stimulated.
you with a framework within which to implement an
in-house waste minimisation programme. Many Production performance in the glass fabrication and
waste minimisation actions can be achieved at no cost processing industry is often measured according to
and low cost, so integrating waste minimisation into overall output and ‘due date’. Using performance
your activities makes excellent business sense. measurements that relate directly to process efficiency
will improve overall control and help you to develop
There are often barriers to the introduction of an in-
good practice. Examples of performance benchmarks
house waste minimisation programme into any
that can be used to set targets for improvement include:
business. In the glass fabrication and processing sector,
the most important barriers are: ■ cutting yield;

■ little awareness of the benefits of waste ■ glass waste/tonne of saleable product;

minimisation, making it difficult to ‘sell’ the
■ energy costs/tonne of saleable product.
concept to staff;
Shortage of time and resources for training need not
■ the need to maintain overall output and ‘due date’
be a barrier. Promotion of waste minimisation and
targets limiting the time available to improve
good housekeeping during staff induction training will
process efficiency;
be paid back many times over in reduced waste.
■ limited time and resources available to train staff in Notice-boards, team briefings, newsletters, e-mail and
how to implement good housekeeping measures ‘on-the-job’ instruction are also good ways of getting
and improve process operation. across the waste minimisation message to staff.

Fig 1 Step-by-step approach to waste minimisation

STEP 1
Give someone responsibility
for waste minimisation

STEP 2
Establish the size of the
waste problem and where
waste is coming from
STEP 7
Review progress
and feed back
success

STEP 3
STEP 6 Analyse the
Implement information
the Action Plan and generate
basic principles

waste
minimisation
options

STEP 5 STEP 4
Produce an Action Plan Prioritise the waste minimisation
and set targets options available

6
 KEY ISSUES

Key issues in glass fabrication and

processing
The key production costs in the fabrication and The main sources and causes of cullet generation are:
processing sectors are glass, labour and energy. Water
■ cutting activities;
and pvb laminate off-cuts are also significant cost
items for certain processes (see Table 2). In terms of ■ poor storage and handling techniques;
quantity and overall costs, waste glass ‘cullet’ (off-cuts,
■ inadequate maintenance of equipment and
breakages, etc) is the most significant waste, although
machines;
in terms of unit cost, some other process wastes may
be more valuable but are generated in smaller ■ lack of checks leading to downstream processing
quantities, eg aluminium. problems;

Table 2 Key costs in glass fabrication and processing ■ poor staff awareness of optimum operating
techniques and process settings.
Fabrication Processing
Some cullet generation is generally unavoidable -
Glass Glass
particularly at the cutting stage when glass
Gas Gas optimisation is typically around 94%. Cullet
generated during later stages of the production
Electricity Electricity
process can often be avoided through operator
Spacer bar pvb laminate training, quality checks and good practice. Cullet
generated from glass that has passed through a
Frame materials, Hydrofluoric acid
number of production processes has added value. The
eg PVC-u, aluminium and hydrochloric acid
true cost of waste at later process stages can be
and wood
considerable (see Table 1) - even allowing for income
Waste glass ‘cullet’ Water or reduced disposal costs from cullet recycling.

Waste glass ‘cullet’ Implementing the good housekeeping and other low-
cost measures described in this Guide will reduce your
Cullet generation production costs and increase your profit margins.
Progress can be monitored by benchmarking cullet
Cullet generation is the net result of a number of
generation against production.
decisions and actions made during the production
process that impact on material and utility use.
Minimising cullet, therefore, reduces linked production
costs.
key issues

7
 GOOD PRACTICE TIPS

How to reduce waste in glass

fabrication and processing
Opportunities to reduce waste - and thus save money - exist throughout glass fabrication and
processing. Practical examples of good practice are given below in a series of checklists. Use these
checklists to help you brainstorm ideas for reducing waste in your company.

General waste minimisation good practice

Opportunities to reduce waste arise in a range of common activities, eg delivery, storage, cutting, handling and
cullet management. Many of the measures in the checklist below are intended to minimise glass damage and
the potential for breakage.

GENERAL MEASURES TO REDUCE WASTE

Benchmarks ■ Set performance benchmarks related to production efficiency, eg cutting yields and amount
of cullet generated per tonne of saleable product.
Management, ■ Develop a ‘right first time’ philosophy.
planning and ■ Carry out quality checks at critical stages to minimise problems leading to rejected product and
quality downstream processing of rejects.
■ Monitor the cost of processing defects.
Delivery and ■ Arrange for ‘just-in-time’ delivery to minimise storage time and related damage.
storage ■ Develop delivery acceptance procedures and quality checks designed to improve the quality of
glass used and reduce the amount of defects/breakages.
■ Measure the amount of breakage in each delivery and charge back any loss to your supplier.
■ Increase stillage size to reduce space requirements and the number of glass lifts.
■ Maintain stillages at an angle of 5 or 6°.
■ Use battens to optimise storage conditions and avoid damage to glass.
■ Keep the glass storage area free from rainwater leaks and dust to reduce staining, the need for
cleaning and the possibility of slippage and damage during handling.
Cutting ■ Set targets for glass utilisation. Try to do better than the typical value for the sector of 94%.
■ Design your cutting programme and patterns to minimise waste.
■ Train staff in cutting machine operation, glass breaking and glass stacking.
■ Check the glass before cutting for bubbles, shells, cracks and scratches.
■ Check that equipment is operating properly.
■ Check the accuracy of the ‘squareness’ of cut-on cutting equipment.
■ Box in the cutting tables to ensure that cullet goes to the side of the table rather than dropping
underneath. This avoids unnecessary contamination of the cullet - leading to its disposal rather
than being recycled.
■ Catalogue and store significant off-cuts for future use.
Glass handling ■ Reduce the potential for breakage by optimising the layout of the shop floor to minimise
and processing the need for handling and the distances that raw materials and products are moved.
■ Train staff to handle glass and end-products correctly to avoid bruising, scratching and damage.
good practice tips

■ Track glass (origin, quality and batch) to enable further processing problems to be prevented if
some of a particular batch causes preventable process waste.
■ Check that glass is stacked correctly to avoid problems with automatic de-stacking equipment.
■ Ensure that the correct lifts and equipment are used for lifting and manoeuvring glass from delivery
vehicles to factory storage areas.
■ Ensure that racks are well-maintained with unworn felt/rubber padding and set at the correct
angle, ie 3°.

8
 GOOD PRACTICE TIPS

GENERAL MEASURES TO REDUCE WASTE (CONTINUED)

Glass recycling ■ Collect waste flat, float and clean glass separately from other glass types and contaminants (eg
wood and metals) for recycling.
■ Collect coated, coloured and laminated glasses separately for recycling.
■ Make sure that ceramic, coloured or fire retardant glass does not contaminate flat, float and clean
glass forwarded for recycling.
■ Order replacement skips for cullet collection before the ones in use become full. This will avoid
glass spilling on the ground and having to be disposed of to landfill because it is contaminated.
Packaging waste ■ Increase the size of the glass blocks to reduce the amount of timber end-cap.
Washing and ■ Ensure that the water supply to washing and finishing machines is turned on only when required.
finishing This will save water and effluent costs by reducing water consumption.
■ Use reverse flow cleaning-in-place (CIP) for glass washing. This allows water (which has often
been demineralised) to be used repeatedly - say five times.
■ Recycle water from washing and finishing machines to reduce water consumption and effluent
generation.
■ Install conductivity monitors to monitor water quality and thus maximise recycling.
Maintenance ■ Ensure that all machinery is well-maintained and clean to reduce mistakes, accidents and breakage.
■ Assign machines to operators and provide budgets for regular maintenance regimes to increase
operator ownership.
Site layout ■ Set out production areas to optimise material flow logistics. This reduces both the potential for
breakage and the time taken to move the product.

Good practice in glass fabrication

Specific opportunities to save waste in glass fabrication focus on the manufacture of sealed units and frames.

GOOD PRACTICE IN GLASS FABRICATION

Sealed units ■ Check for waste at key points in the manufacturing process. Record the amounts and consider
ways of eliminating or reducing this waste.
■ Collect steel and aluminium off-cuts separately for recycling or return to your supplier.
■ Minimise desiccant use by calculating the exact amount required for the volume of the sealed unit.
■ Maintain the correct temperature for sealant storage and use to avoid wasting batches and to
optimise sealant application.
■ Stagger breaks in production to avoid the need to purge sealant from machines before and after
breaks.
■ Ensure that the optimum amount of sealant is used for a given gap between panes of glass by
monitoring actual and target use.
■ Check the quality of two-part sealant mixes to ensure correct performance.
■ Store finished products in safe areas to minimise damage.

Fabrication of ■ Check that the dimensions and quality of the profile material (eg look for rubs, marks and
frames scratches) are acceptable to avoid subsequent wastage.
■ In sawing processes, minimise grip waste and, on mitres, cut to the width of the blade.
■ For PVC-u profiles:
good practice tips

– order steel and aluminium reinforcement in pre-cut lengths to avoid on-site waste;
– recycle waste PVC-u by regranulating and blending it into secondary profiles, ie not the all-
weather sections but the secondary parts of the profile;
– sell PVC-u swarf from drilling/cutting and sprues from welding operations to a reprocessor.
■ If mistakes do occur:
– recover fittings, hinges, handles, locks and glass in a material reclaim unit;
– granulate uncontaminated PVC-u frames;
– recycle aluminium frames.

9
 GOOD PRACTICE TIPS

Good practice in glass processing

Specific opportunities to save waste in glass processing are concerned with activities such as laminating,
toughening, bevelling and grinding.

GOOD PRACTICE IN GLASS PROCESSING

Acid processes ■ Use high-quality sealing coating to avoid mistakes and thus minimise waste and rework.

Sandblasting ■ Check the pattern cutting (the most critical stage) to ensure accurate sandblasting. This will
avoid waste generation and the need for reworking.
■ Re-use grit and change it only when necessary.
■ Use the best quality sealing coating to avoid mistakes and thus minimise waste and rework.

Drilling ■ Cut a slot from the edge of the glass to reduce the incidence of breakage.

Laminating ■ Before starting to laminate, ensure that the glass is clean and dry to avoid trapping moisture.
(resin) ■ Use demineralised water to avoid staining on internal surfaces.
■ Ensure that glass is securely clipped to avoid movement during processing.
■ Check that bubbles are not present in the resin before curing with ultraviolet light.
■ Use the correct cure time.

Laminating ■ Maintain suitable conditions for the storage and use of pvb laminate. This will avoid
(pvb) deterioration of the laminate and ensure efficient application.
■ Keep the lamination equipment free of dust to avoid contaminating the product.
■ To guarantee accurate application, check that the lamination equipment is square to the laying
table.
■ Inspect the laminated glass after autoclaving to ensure that downstream processes are not
supplied with faulty material.
■ Trim the pvb overhang from laminated glass to avoid slippage and damage in subsequent
processes, eg on double glazing lines.
■ Maintain autoclaves, cranes and hot air systems correctly to provide efficient and optimum
operation.
■ Integrate driers with compressed air systems and autoclaves to avoid staining due to solid
deposits, and the need for cleaning.

Bevelling and ■ Turn on the water supply to bevelling and grinding machines only when they are in use.
grinding Turn off the water when the machines are not in use.
■ Recycle the water from bevelling and grinding machines to reduce water and effluent costs.

Bending ■ Check moulds thoroughly to prevent quality problems.

■ To avoid unnecessary cracking, raise the oven hood at an appropriate speed and reduce the
hood temperature correctly.
■ Utilise the bed space under the oven hood as much as possible to optimise production rates.
■ Operate the oven hood overnight when cheaper energy is available.

Toughening ■ Plan work to maximise periods of continuous operation. This avoids start-up and shutdown,
thus reducing energy use and other production costs.
good practice tips

■ To avoid rejects, check the glass for staining before processing.

■ Ensure that ovens and chillers are programmed accurately for each job to optimise
heating/cooling time and to minimise the potential for breakage.
■ If a print is applied to the glass, place the print face-up to avoid damaging the rollers and
having to stop the process to clean them.
■ Operate the toughener overnight when cheaper energy is available.

10
 GOOD PRACTICE TIPS

Making the most of cullet

You can minimise the total amount of cullet generated, but it is generally not possible to eliminate its production.
Recycling your cullet rather than sending it to a landfill will make the most of cullet that is generated - reducing
both your costs and your impact on the environment.

Cullet is produced during manufacturing and in secondary activities, eg fitting windows. It is important to include
cullet from all processes in your waste management strategy.

Flat glass cullet can be recycled into flat glass, glass fibre or glass wool insulation. Good cullet management will
improve cullet quality and thus increase the amount that can be recycled. Contact the Environment and Energy
Helpline on freephone 0800 585794 for details of companies that collect flat glass cullet for recycling.

The level of contamination in your cullet has a direct influence on its value and saleability. Generating
contaminant-free cullet is, therefore, vital to the financial viability of cullet recycling. There are two main types
of contamination:

■ inclusions - non-glass materials, eg sealed unit and window frame materials or laminated glass;

■ colour contamination - mixed cullet of different colours.

Improving the purity of cullet and preventing colour contamination will increase the value and
recyclability of your cullet.

GOOD PRACTICE IN CULLET MANAGEMENT

Reducing ■ Prevent non-glass materials becoming mixed with cullet.

contamination ■ Segregate waste streams to prevent mixing of different colours and types of glass.
■ Provide alternative skips for other waste materials.
■ Label all skips clearly.

Management ■ Make one person responsible for ensuring that cullet skips are:
– inspected daily for inclusions and colour contamination;
– well-maintained and clearly labelled.
■ Mark skips clearly with which types of cullet are acceptable and which are unacceptable.
■ Provide skips for unacceptable waste next to cullet bins. This will reduce inclusions.
■ Make yourself aware of the cullet specification required by your cullet collector.
■ Ensure that cullet generated off-site (eg breakage during window fitting) is returned and
placed - without any inclusions - in the appropriate skips.

Training ■ Provide staff with regular training in cullet management.

■ Provide clear, written procedures so that everyone knows exactly what to do.
■ Ensure that contractors do not use cullet skips for their waste.

Pick-up ■ Check that the cullet in the skips has no inclusions before the skips are collected by your cullet
collectors.
■ Use a limited number of cullet collectors to ensure training and communication on cullet
handling remain effective.
good practice tips

■ Ensure that contaminated loads are not forwarded to recyclers. Prices for consignments may
change if minimum requirements are not met.

11
 FURTHER HELP

Further help and advice

The Environment and Energy Helpline

(0800 585794) can:

Send you copies of relevant

Environmental Technology Best
Practice Programme publications.
For example, Profiting from
Less Waste (ET206) outlines the
full range of material on waste
minimisation now published by
the Programme and Finding
Hidden Profit - 200 Tips for
Reducing Waste (ET30) draws
on the combined experience of
companies and consultants to give practical tips based on industry examples.
Provide free, up-to-date information on environmental issues and collectors/
recyclers of flat glass cullet.
Tell you about relevant environmental and other regulations that could affect your
operations.
Tell you about the free advice on energy technologies and energy management
provided by the Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme (see also
http://www.energy-efficiency.gov.uk).
Arrange for a specialist to visit your company free of charge if you employ fewer
than 250 people (at the discretion of the Helpline Manager).

Another useful contact is:

The Glass and Glazing Federation,
44 - 48 Borough High Street, London SE1 1XB.
Tel: 020 7403 7177. Fax: 020 7357 7458.
Glass and Glazing Federation
http://www.ggf.org.uk

This Guide was produced by the Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme.
Prepared with assistance from Entec UK Ltd and the Glass and Glazing Federation.

For more information about the Environmental Technology Best Practice Programme
and how its free services can help you, please phone the

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY HELPLINE 0800 585794

world wide web: http://www.etbpp.gov.uk e-mail address: [email protected]

THE ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY BEST PRACTICE PROGRAMME

IS A GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME MANAGED BY AEA TECHNOLOGY PLC

© Crown copyright. First printed July 2000. Printed on paper containing a minimum
This material may be freely reproduced in its original form except for sale or advertising purposes. of 75% post-consumer waste.