AGC uses recycled glass from PV panels for float glass production

Japan's AGC, a glass, material, and chemical manufacturer, announced demonstrating the use of recycled cover glass from solar panels in the processing of float glass.

AGC noted that it was the first in Japan to recycle cover glass in float glass. The test involved using approximately 5 tons of recycled cover glass cullet in an AGC float glass production furnace at its Kashima Plant.

It was prepared with what AGC described as a low-temperature thermal decomposition technology supplied by Japanese chemical company Tokuyama Corporation,

“With the success of this test, it is expected that float glass, which has a high production volume, will serve as a suitable outlet for the horizontal recycling of cover glass,” said the manufacturer.

The float glass demonstration followed a test in October demonstrating the recovery of glass cullet from solar panel cover glass, confirming its use in the production of figured glass at the AGC Yokohama Technical Center. Some 24 tons of glass cullet were processed, the result of a collaboration with Shinryo Corporation, a recycling subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Group.