Local authorities and private companies have been invited to attend the workshops to promote the environmental and efficiency benefits of using recycled glass grit as a cleaning abrasive.
The sessions will include a demonstration of glass grit cleaning in action and presentations by WRAP and four of the main glass grit manufacturers in the UK. They will be held in Belfast, Birmingham, Bolton, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, London and Newcastle.
Uses of shot blast abrasives include cleaning masonry and removing paint and corrosion from steel. But traditional materials such as copper slag and sand bring environmental risks, WRAP says.
“Copper slag contains heavy metals,” said a spokesman. “Once it has been used, it cannot be used again and is a special waste. It is not produced in the UK, so if we can replace some of it then we wouldn't have the environmental costs of transporting it into this country.”
It is believed that some operators may still use sand, even though it is illegal to use it as a dry blast abrasive because it contains crystalline silica, which causes the terminal lung condition silicosis.
Performance
Glass grit, which is produced as a by-product of re-using cullet in container manufacture, has been shown to perform equally to copper slag and sand in UK trials. It can also be re-used in blasting two or three times as long as it is not being used on a surface coated in a hazardous substance.
The WRAP spokesman said: “Glass can do all the things that sand can do, without any health risks”. But he admitted: “People are not really looking for new materials and things are slow to change.”
The workshops come under WRAP's remit of developing markets for recycled products including glass, for which it was has received 40 million of government funds. Container recycling currently stands at 30% in the UK.
The glass grit manufacturing industry will be represented by Fergusson Wild, Krysteline, Scangrit and Wolverhampton Abrasives.
Andy Dawe, material sector manager for glass at WRAP said: “The purpose of the workshops is to raise awareness of this non-toxic, inert alternative which unlike many of the abrasives currently used poses no threat to the environment.”
Around 50,000 tonnes of abrasives are used each year in the UK. WRAP aims to increase the glass share of this from around 3,000 tonnes to 10,000 tonnes a year, and hopes to at least double it within two or three years.
For regional course date and contact details, see letsrecycle.com events
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