Glass

Kuusakoski Glass partners with PDC to separate CRT glass

Kuusakoski Glass LLC, a subsidiary of Kuusakoski US, headquartered in Plainfield, Illinois, in conjunction with its cathode ray tube (CRT) glass treatment partner, Peoria Disposal Co. (PDC), Peoria, Illinois, has announced that the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Illinois’ Tazewell County have approved PDC’s application to use crushed, nonhazardous CRT panel glass as an aggregate substitute in building landfill gas extraction wells and leachate recirculation wells at the PDC Indian Creek Landfill.

Kuusakoski Glass and PDC say they have been working for the past six months to separate the CRT panel and funnel glass following crushing and metal removal. Engineering modifications have been made to the Kuusakoski Glass facility’s CRT glass processing line, and third-party laboratory testing has been completed to ensure the panel glass has been effectively separated from the funnel glass, the companies say.

After separation, the CRT panel glass is used as a construction aggregate material.

Also, Kuusakoski Glass says a North American smelter has agreed to accept its CRT glass of an agreed upon specification for lead concentration on a limited basis. Some CRT glass has been shipped to and accepted by the smelter, the company says.

The lead-concentrated glass that is not shipped to the smelter is sent to the PDC Indian Creek Landfill and placed in a dedicated, retrievable storage cell until markets are available to extract and recover lead, Kuusakoski says, or used as alternate daily cover at the site.

“The treatment of the funnel glass continues to be the best solution to address costs, long-term liabilities and capacity shortfalls in the United States,” says Rich Hipp, Kuusakoski Recycling president of U.S. operations. “Nevertheless, we are happy to provide another CRT glass option to our customers who are willing to pay for it.”