Green Combined Resource Recycling System for the Recycling of Waste Glass

As a major part of municipal waste, the amount of waste glass has greatly increased. Due to its stable physical and chemical properties, glass can be effectively recycled with very little loss of quality. Meanwhile, recovery of waste glass is considered to be meaningful for saving resources and energy for sustainable development. However, remanufacturing processes always need a higher level of cleaning of waste glass. Traditionally, the combination technology of hydraulic cleaning and semimanual sorting is used to clean the organic and metallic impurities of waste glass. This combination technology has the disadvantages of low efficiency and producing lots of organic wastewater, which causes heavy environmental pollution. This study proposed an environmental-friendly combined recycling system of waste glass. Waterless cleaning, iron removing, eddy current separation, and optical separation were combined to realize the cleaning and sorting of waste glass. The operation parameters of each process of this new system were discussed and optimized. This system contributed to a high-efficiency and environmental-friendly way for the recovering of waste glass in municipal wastes, and it is an engineering practice to upgrade the urban solid waste recycling technology.