A scientist from the University of Greenwich, London, has developed a way of taking waste glass pieces and creating a filter material that can filter out contaminated waterways. The specifics of the project will be outlined in a future issue of the International Journal of Environment and Waste Management.
Only a small amount of waste glass can be recycled, mainly because a lot of glass is colored, and also because there is only room on the market for a limited amount of recyclable glass, most of which is sent to China and other countries to provide filler when paving roads.
Chemist Nichola Coleman developed a rudimentary process for converting the waste glass, known in the industry as cullet, into tobermorite, a hydrated calcium silicate. in a specific form, known as phase-pure 11-angstrom, the mineral can used and an ion-exchange material that can extract lead and cadmium from industrial or municipal wastewater, as well as contaminated groundwater.
With the success that Coleman has seen with tobermorite, the concept of manufacture will be elaborated upon in order to create other possible classes of filter media from otherwise low-priced and low-quality glass waste. The relative abundance of the material could make the class of filter media being developed a preventative solution to the problem of lateral migration of contaminants in groundwater.
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