Recycled Glass Tiles: A Trend Whose Time Has Come

If ever there was a trend whose time had come it is the continued popularity of green interior design.  Architects, Interior Designers, and homeowners everywhere are more conscious than ever about the environment and how our actions and habits can improve our homes and our communities.  Green products are a necessary component of any green remodeling project and recycled glass tiles should be at the top of the list for any kitchen or bathroom remodel.

Post Industrial vs. Post Consumer Glass

These terms mean exactly what one might think.  Post industrial recycled glass is glass waste (or excess) that is used by factories and manufacturing plants that use glass in their production process.  Post consumer recycled glass is glass that comes from municipalities, community recycling centers, and other community based sources. 

In terms of post consumer glass, the success of curbside recycling programs has resulted in more consumer glass than municipalities can use.  And now with the increasing demand for recycled glass tile products among other things, this waste which in the past probably would have made its way to a landfill, now will be put to good use and continues to support the economic viability of recycling programs.

Using post consumer glass to make glass tiles and other products as one might expect is more difficult and costly than using post industrial glass.  This is because a large amount of post consumer glass is recycled using single stream recycling methods which makes it difficult to separate bottles from paper and to “cleanse and clean” the material by removing labels still remaining on the bottles.  It is done in most cases but consumers can aid their local communities and recycling centers by removing any labels or markings from glass they plan to recycle.  For this reason, most large scale production with glass to date is being done with post industrial glass material.

Recycled Glass creates truly beautiful material

If you have ever visited your local recycling center you will see a wide variety of glass colors that is typically recycled by consumers.  There are large bins with glass bottles and separating containers in blue, brown, green, yellow, and red.  This sea of color through the magic of unique and innovative manufacturing processes will be transformed into colorful glass and wonderful tiles sold in a multitude of varying colors. 

On the AnchorBayTile site we offer several lines of recycled glass tiles including our Kawaii recycled glass tiles as well as the River Crystals glass tile liners collection.  The beautiful colors in the Kawaii collection of glass tiles are made from post industrial recycled glass products.  The River Crystals glass liners collection is also made from 100% post industrial recycled glass material.  As you can see, both offer stunning color combinations that arise from the fact that material used to create each collection are a combination of many different colors of glass melted in to the beautiful creations you see on our website.