Abstract.
Glass recycling reduces the amount of waste to be treated or disposed in landfills, allowing both to
limit environmental damage and to save on the costs of transportation and disposal of waste. In this
paper, an advantageous method for recycling glass containers (bottles, jars, jars for food, glasses
and cans for drinks, etc.) is presented. The glass was crushed and without being washed or
separated from any foreign bodies it was safely incorporated into a metakaolin-based geopolymeric
matrix. Pure metakaolin and mixtures obtained by adding different percentages (30-50 wt%) of
glass cullet were consolidated via alkali activation at 50°C. Infrared spectroscopy was able to reveal
the formation of bonds in the mixtures between the geopolymeric matrix and the glass. Leaching
tests were carried out to evaluate the eventual release of toxic metals, while the antibacterial tests
completed the environmental evaluation of the final consolidated products that showed how the
mechanical performance were modified by adding different amount of glass [1].
References
[1] G. Dal Poggetto, M. Catauro, G. Crescente and C. Leonelli. Efficient addiction of waste glass in
MK-based geopolymers: microstructure, antibacterial and cytotoxicity investigation. Polymers,
2021, 13, 1493
