Reuse, remanufacturing, recycling: the case of glass for buildings

Annex A

End-of-life possibilities and potential for remanufacturing of used flat glass products

The potential for remanufacturing depends on the operations that the used product can withstand. Table 1 informs about the remanufacturing processes that can be used on various glass types and indicates the possible treatment at the end-of-life of glazing products.

Table 1 – End-of-life possibilities per glass type & details on processes that can be considered for remanufacturing

Bibliography

[1]        Rebecca Hartwell, Sebastian Macmillan, Mauro Overend: Circular economy of façades: Real-world challenges and opportunities

[2]        Rota, A., Zaccaria, M. & Fiorito, F. Towards a quality protocol for enabling the reuse of post-consumer flat glass. Glass Struct Eng (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40940-023-00233-0

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[1] Glass for Europe. (2020). 2050 | Flat Glass in Climate-Neutral Europe. https://glassforeurope.com/2050-flat-glass-in-a-climate-neutral-europe/

[2] Regulation 2024/3110. Regulation (EU) 2024/3110 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2024 laying down harmonised rules for the marketing of construction products. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/3110/oj

[3] Regulation 2024/3110, Article 3 (20).

[4] Regulation 2024/3110, Article 3 (25).

[5] This definition is taken from the initial CPR proposal of the EU Commission (COM (2022) 144 final), Article 3 (30): https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:52022PC0144

[6] Glass for Europe, (2023). Choosing ‘High energy performance’ glazing in windows. https://glassforeurope.com/choosing-high-energy-performance-glazing-in-windows/

[7] Op. cit. Glass for Europe (2023)

[8] https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/waste-framework-directive_en

[9] Op. cit. Glass for Europe (2020)

[10]Glass for Europe. (2023). Glass for Europe responses to two EU consultations on C&D waste & flat glass recycling. https://glassforeurope.com/glass-for-europe-responses-to-two-eu-consultation-on-cd-waste-flat-glass-recycling/

[11]Glass for Europe. (2024). Recycling of end-of-life building glass – A powerful tool to reduce CO2 emissions. https://glassforeurope.com/recycling-of-end-of-life-building-glass-2/

[12] Glass with Class A and B coatings according to EN 1096-1 can sometimes be remanufactured.