The Journey of that Bottle of Wine You Drank Recently

Last Updated on January 22, 2020

Remember when you decided to uncork that bottle of Shiraz to celebrate your birthday last year? Well, it’s part of your countertop this year. Now, I’m not sure that you celebrated your birthday in such a fashion, or if you like Shiraz, or if you even enjoy beverages originally housed in glass bottles, but one thing is certain – whatever glass bottle gets drank over the course of time will inevitably lead a long and prosperous life as a post-consumer, re-propagated product. So just think, when you’re uncorking a new bottle of wine on your new glass composite countertop – you know, the scratch resistant, un-dentable one – you can rest assured that you’re getting a big fat figurative pat on the back from Mother Nature. Let us stroll through the life-span of a bottle as it becomes your brand new recycled glass countertop.

When it comes time to throw out the trash, hopefully you’ve had the wherewithal to separate garbage from recycling-friendly products. Don’t fret, if you’ve made a mistake in the separating/washing process the workers at your local recycling processing center will give the items they’ve collected a final separation and cleaning. It’s at this point in the process when the recycled pieces of glass, whether they be jars, glasses, or other not chemically treated glass products are resurrected out of the ranks of garbage and become immaculate pieces of glass again, ready to be used in recycled glass countertops, new bottles, and to build roads.

For good measure, an industrial magnet is scanned over the glass to catch any pieces of metal that weren’t sifted out by the workers – human error, you know? Once the glass is sufficiently washed and sifted, the glass is sent to a machine where it is crushed into a fine, glassy gravel called “cullet”. Cullet is then gathered, packaged, and sold by weight. Much of it is purchased by concrete companies looking to mix glass in with their mixture, strengthening the final product. Cullet is also sold to municipalities looking to strengthen their road resurfacing materials. Glass can be, when used right, a wonder material.

Ah, where we come in. Landscaping and remodeling companies purchase cullet to mix in with many of their products used both within and outside the home. In our case we use the cullet to strengthen and add shine to our Trend Glass brand of glass countertops . It adds a unique shimmer, resists heat and cold, and won’t scratch of dent. Glass allows us to cut down on waste when we fabricate our countertops and the benefit couldn’t be more swayed in our favor. We produce a better product and produce less pollution. A win-win if you ask us.