The first successful use of automatic detectors to remove pyro-ceramics from recycled glass by a recycling company is taking place in the UK and will allow its glassmaking customer, Rockware, to double its use of cullet. Berrymans has installed the detectors at its recycling plant in Knottingley to check cullet bound for Rockware. Pyro-ceramic comes from cookware such as "Pyrex" products. It is very similar in appearance to normal packaging glass, and very difficult to spot by the human eye, but it melts at twice the temperature needed to melt standard container glass. That means it is not melted properly in container Glas furnaces and can form weak spots or other defects in new containers. Berryman's detection machines identify pyro-ceramic fragments and high pressure air jets then blow them into reject bins.
