New-Zealnd recycling group Zero Waste Trust wants to turn the South Island's stockpiles of waste glass into tiles, kitchen benches & sandblasting grit. Waste glass is trucked & shipped to Auckland glass manufacturer ACI, but transport costs & reduced prices paid for raw materials means that is becoming less feasible, particularly for remote areas. CE Jo Knight said the trust would look at a variety of uses as most had only a small market. "We can't keep shipping this stuff off to the North Island, so what else can we do with it that will actually create jobs in areas that need them?" she said. Christchurch's Recovered Materials Foundation (RMF) had also investigated making glass tiles from waste. CE R Lloyd said it had resolved technical issues & was about to launch a pilot production process for the product, which look exactly like ceramic tiles.
