by Michael Smith
During the recently concluded 2008 CleanTech Open, some of the most exciting new innovations in the world of sustainability were being showcased. Among the winners that walked away with a prize package worth $100,000 in cash and business resources was BottleStone, a Los Altos Hills company that makes ceramic stone counter tops out of recycled glass.
It must be said, however, that this is certainly not the only company doing this and there are several in the UK and in other European Union countries. I have seen their products on several shows and are intending to write about this in a different vein in another article soon.
It takes about six wine bottles to create a square foot of BottleStone, which is a wonder to think used wine bottles do more than to serve as evidence of one’s drinking habits. What is more interesting, however, is BottleStone’s durability. In tests, the material proved to be just as strong as 1.5” thick brick or 2.5” thick concrete paver.
The glass waste used is direct from post-consumer sources, meaning it’s the same stuff that is on the side of the curb during morning trash pick up, and comprises 80% of the surface material – the other 20% being cement and ceramic, which act as bonding agents mainly. According to the company's website, there is no special processing done to the glass, and therefore there are zero emissions in the production of the new surface material.
The question many seem to have for new technologies like this is if they will be able to be successful in a recessive economy. The material, however, is eligible for LEED credits for builders and designers.
BottleStone sits in the “mid-high range” on price, cheaper than real marble or granite and similarly priced to other synthetic materials like Corian. It is, however, a more expensive alternative to the laminate and pressed-wood materials that are easily scorched, say, with an iron or damned in other ways. BottleStone, also, comes in a variety of colours.
The only thing that, as per usual, so to speak, gets me in this story is that it is, generally, so-called post-consumer glass that is being used for such recycling that should not, as yet, end up being recycled in the first place. Bottles should be returned to be refilled and refilled again, and the same for glass jars, until such as time that they eventually and finally, break. Then it is time for them to be made into new glass or into such products as the aforementioned.
© M Smith (Veshengro), November 2008
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Recycled glass counter tops take home CleanTech Award
