Glass waste

[anditsinthefish]

Hi

I'm sorting out my business plan for my professional practice module for my degree and am also sorting out the details for my studio set up in Surrey.
I was just wondering those of you who have studios and sell commercially, what do you do about your waste glass. I am hoping that I won't have too much but you know those beads that don't survive the kiln etc. How do you go about recycling it and do you have it professionally dealt with?

I have found from the council about clinical waste Group B – Discarded syringes, needles, cartridges, broken glass and other sharp instruments but I feel that's a bit extreme to set up for the small amount i will be disposing of.

Many thanks,

Sarah

[SueP]

I never throw any beads away! and all the ends of rods are used up - currently cut up for stud earrings.   

I know someone on here (Tan I think) used to discard beads on the beach when walking the dog  so they could be found by furture generations - always makes me think of the Great Escape - where they got rid of the earth from the tunnels 

[jobead]

I love the idea of Tan shaking broken beads down her trouser leg on the beach and trying to look nonchalant 

I tend to fuse broken beads and see if they turn out OK for cufflinks or rings, I sell 'em quite cheap at craft fairs and people quiet like the waste not want not idea of them. Other than that they pile up in various jars reminding me that the best beads I ever made didn't survive.

[Glyn Burton]

I get through a lot of glass in a year.
Bullseye off cuts I take into college and students use them in the vitrograph or for casting/fusing projects, students are always keen to have free materials.

Rod ends are joined on to new rods to use every last bit
or
heated in the torch and dropped into a stainless steel bowl of clean water to make frit.
or
collected in a bucket and taken to the dump and put in the recycling bin, about 1 bucket every 2 years.

The reason I throw away some glass is because its dirty or contaminated, sweepings up and such like.
In the last year or so I have bought more than £10,000 of glass so I think half a bucket of waste is not too bad.

[Redhotsal]

I tend not to waste much either and I always use up my short rods. However, when I first started a few years ago and got lots of cracked beads due to cooling in vermiculite I saved up all the broken beads and managed to decorate quite a large photoframe with the halves. Sounds tragic but actually looked quite nice. You can also fuse the halves to make nifty cabochons.

I really like Pat from Canvey's idea of making pot melts (sort of glassy bubble and squeak), though I've never gotten around to making one:

http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=5445.0

http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=38115.0

[♥♥Tan♥♥]

This is what I do

All beads that don't feel the love are taken to the beach and left for people to find either that day or in the future.

Rod ends, stringers, chips, twistie ends are all put into a little metal bucket and used to make cabs.......I find a base of three or four rods wide and then two or three rod ends on top, with the chips and twisties in between make lovely cabs.

Rods that hate you and you love to hate, you know the ones, they are ugly colours, or spit at you or just look at you the wrong way.......I put those fullish rods to one side and use them as edges to my fusing if I make a hanging from my rod ends.

Waste from bowls and hangings.............I use window glass and have a fair bit of waste, the larger pieces I cut down into same sized squares or rectangles, chuck them in a box and use them to make cabs or pendants, these are small and nicely fill gaps in the kiln. Then I am left with bits and bobs, generally I chuck it all into a box and when it is fairly full I lob it down to the local glaziers and tip it into their glass skip.

Failing that, save ice cream tubs, use them to chuck your odds in, when half full just tape the lid on and chuck it in the bin. I asked the bin men about this and they said as long as it is safely contained they don't worry.