There are numerous major categories of savings to be shared by the glass manufacturers, beneficiators, MRF’s, bottlers and GMG when C3MC™ cullet and the GMG technology are used to replace virgin batch. Studies have shown cost savings per ton of cullet used in the batch replacing virgin batch to range from a low of $17 per ton to over $100 per ton.
Further, a greater supply of cullet will now be available in the marketplace with less production waste. The basic principles of supply and demand suggest that C3MC™ cullet will, therefore, be available at or below the current cost of single color cullet. A review of the cost saving elements is as follows:
Energy Savings
Although each glass plant is different, it has been reported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that the use of cullet, irrespective of its color mix, in place of virgin batch, will reduce energy use in the melting and refining stages on average by a combined 50%. Considering that on average 46% of all energy required to handle and produce container glass is expended in melting and refining; then the overall energy savings would be 23% per ton of C3MC™ cullet used to replace virgin batch. The DOE reported in April 2002 that the average energy use in glass container manufacturing was 12.04 million Btu’s/ton. At today’s energy cost of $10 per million Btu’s this results in an average energy cost per ton of $120.40. Based upon these factors the use of C3MC™ cullet would reduce energy use and costs by 23% or $27.70 per ton of C3MC™ cullet used.
Savings from Emissions Reductions
An examination of the mass balance of the glass furnace batch melt will typically show a loss of 15% of the virgin batch fraction to the atmosphere. Much of this is CO2 (greenhouse gas). However there are also significant emissions of SOx and NOx (which are subject to strict EPA and DEP limits).
All cullet is glass and when melted in the furnace it does not release any significant amount of material to the atmosphere, as its chemistry is already stable as a melted glass. Furthermore, C3MC™ cullet requires less energy in the melting/refining stages of the glass making process and thus significantly reduces the emissions due to reduced combustion in the melting and refining areas of the furnace. The dual benefit of reduced virgin batch emissions and reduced energy use emissions also results in a reduction in particulate matter (PM) emissions.
As a point of interest, the electrical energy component of the melting process is also reduced. Although this has no direct emission impact at the glass plant, it does have a positive impact at the energy source, the power plant.
The reduction of EPA and state regulated emissions by replacing virgin batch with C3MC™ cullet is significant. At a use level of 40% C3MC™ cullet, emissions due to batch chemistry are reduced by approximately 40%, and emissions from energy combustion by an additional 9.2 % (i.e. as a percentage of total plant energy.)
Other Economic Benefits of C3MC™ Cullet
C3MC™ cullet will provide all of the direct and indirect economic benefits currently known to exist with single color cullet such as:
(a) Allow greater furnace pull rates due to availability of saved energy.
(b) Less wear and tear on equipment – longer furnace life due to lower melt temperatures and a lower rate of combustion and emissions.
(c) Lower storage requirements - cullet replacing virgin batch only requires 85% of the space.
As the market for C3MC™ cullet expands, municipalities will again expand glass recycling which will result in more product. Product will be more proximate to the glass plant thus reducing the cost of transportation of cullet. C3MC™ cullet will not be affected by the shift to single stream collection which will continue to drive up the cost of single color cullet.
Increased Glass Recycling
By enabling the use of large quantities of mixed color cullet in glass container production, GMG's CulChrome ® technology enables the dramatic increase in glass recycling. Proponents of glass recycling have heretofore been seeking solutions to the problems of what to do with the growing amounts of mixed color cullet produced from single stream, commingled collection of recyclables in the solid waste stream. Single stream, commingled collection is a reality of solid waste management that is undeniably here to stay and growing. The net result is that the supply of mixed color cullet produced from this form of collection is also growing inexorably.
GMG's CulChrome ® technology addresses this reality head on by enabling the highest and best use of mixed color glass cullet - as a raw material for the manufacture of glass containers. The net result is a huge positive for both the glass manufacturing industry and for municipalities seeking ways to remove glass from the solid waste stream by increasing glass recycling.
