Stardust Glass explains recycled glass as art/building material

By Megan Coleman, Artist, Stardust Glass (Portland)

Why use recycled glass tiles? From a sustainability perspective, waste from construction sites is one of the largest components of our waste stream going to landfills each year.

By using materials destined for the landfill, we divert some of the waste into usable materials; in our case it is recycled glass tiles for kitchen backsplashes, showers and bathroom floors.

Our company purchases broken or discarded glass from local window manufacturers to produce a hand-made tile that is 87-100% percent recycled.   In addition, we use a kiln to fuse our tiles, rather than a furnace, which uses more energy while producing harmful emissions.

Stardust Glass focuses on the creative and artistic elements of tile making rather than having an emphasis on mass production. Recycled glass is a challenge to work with because of the inconsistency  — a manufacturer of recycled glass tile has to be an artist, scientist and technician to produce a final tile product with consistent results.

We choose to work with recycled (post-industrial) scrap not only because it is a new and innovative technology, but because we are dedicated to producing a unique and sustainable product that our customers feel good about when purchasing and installing in their homes.

Take a look at our site. We are always interested in inventing ways to move ahead in support of an ever-growing sustainability movement.

November 19th, 2007