Glass recycling

Glass crushers fall into an intermediate area of materials processing. They are generally smaller than rock crushers, primarily because of volume requirements. A full-scale glass beneficiation facility may process about 50,000 tons of glass per year, or about 25 tons per hour. The revenue from processing 50,000 tons of furnace-ready cullet may be about $1,500,000 per year, which could be adequate to support the operation. In contrast, a quarry or concrete recycling operation processing only 50,000 tons per year probably could not generate enough income to sustain itself.

Glass is more abrasive than many natural aggregates. This means that special alloys are needed to minimize wear on the equipment. But special materials are expensive, making the existence of reliable markets critical to capitalizing the processing. The potential revenues from processing must justify the wear and expense of specialty alloys.