One of the first questions raised when discussing cullet use in the glass industry is whether glassmakers work solely with cullet derived from their flawed end products, or whether they import the recycled material from another source. Crystalex is a glass maker based in the Czech Republic, which primarily manufacturers beverage glasses. The company does not need to import cullet, as between 40-60% of the molten glass ends up as waste during the blowing process. "We are not forced to buy any cullet since we have enough of our own," said Pavel Dusek, the company's Technical Director. With the use of cullet in the spotlight, the author of this paper looks at how glassmakers in the Czech Republic are working with the recycled material, its benefits and associated problem.
