皇冠体育app研究人员介绍洗瓶项目, discuss glass recycling initiatives

The bottle washing project is part of a larger initiative in which glass scientists from 皇冠体育app, 与DEC合作, are studying ways to make manufacturing processes involving glass more environmentally friendly.

FLX酒瓶再利用宴会由Barrelhouse酿酒厂主办, located on Keuka Lake outside Hammondsport and co-founded by 皇冠体育app alumna Kara Mackey ’88. 格雷格·帕尔默, Vitricity的首席执行官, 和阿伦·波特, a post-doctorate researcher working in 皇冠体育app’s Center for Glass Innovation (CGI), 提供最新资料 洗瓶项目 来自五指湖地区的一群葡萄酒生产商.

科林威尔金森, 皇冠体育app玻璃科学教授, 谁还指导CGI, 就该大学关于玻璃可持续性的研究做了演讲, 这项倡议得到了4美元的支持.环保署环境保护基金拨款200万元.

Palmer said the purpose of Wednesday’s event was to share with wine producers in the Finger Lakes Region an economic analysis of a system for washing wine bottles for reuse; discuss the science behind the initiative and its environmental impact; and to facilitate communication among key stakeholders—the wine producers, 的12月, 玻璃研究人员.

由于该州缺乏玻璃回收设施, 特别是在纽约中部和西部, many of the bottles that originate from wineries in the region wind up in landfills. The bottle washing project aims to significantly remove the amount of wine bottles that go into the waste stream while also helping wine producers realize financial savings.

The initiative faces some challenges—developing a system for collecting bottles for cleaning and returning them to the wineries; minimizing damage (cracking, scratching) to bottles during the collection and transportation process; logistics; label removal, 并支付开发洗瓶设施的前期费用. “如果我们能克服这些问题，我们将看到一些真正的好处，”帕尔默评论道.

Palmer said the “economies of scale” determine the viability of the project: the more wineries that participate, 收集的瓶子越多, 推动整体成本下降. “随着规模的扩大, 你得到的东西比传统的瓶子生产要便宜得多.”

“收支平衡”点, where washing and reusing bottles becomes more cost effective than purchasing new bottles, 大约是40,000 /月. There are about 130 wine producers in the region; a survey done by Vitricity revealed that on average, 酿酒厂使用大约10种,每年仅在他们的品酒室里就有1000瓶, 这相当于108个,000 /月.

购买一瓶新酒的平均成本约为1美元.05, Palmer said; depending on how many wine producers participate, 清洗和重复使用瓶子的成本可能低至每瓶10美分.  The key to making the endeavor a success is getting as many wineries as possible a possible on board.

“社区参与控制着可行性，”帕尔默评论道. 他说如果80,每月有000个瓶子被清洗后再使用, “it could result in both a self-sustaining business and a significant reduction in cost” to wine producers.

帕默最初说, 该项目将针对来自酿酒厂品酒室的瓶子, “最容易摘到的果子.” Studies into the cost of building a washing facility and purchasing the requisite equipment and creating a cost-effective method of collection and transportation of bottles from and back to the wineries are ongoing.

Initial surveys show that most wine producers, about 79 percent, are interested in the concept. Palmer estimated that 80 percent of the wine producers would need to participate to reach the 40,盈亏平衡的门槛是每月000瓶.

帕尔默说:“你真的需要规模来让它有价值。. “只有少数几家酿酒厂很难做到这一点.”

Concerns among wine producers include retaining the ability to use their own unique bottles, 而不是采用通用的瓶子, 并确保瓶子在运输过程中不被损坏. Palmer said the next step is for wine producers to share their concerns with Vitricity and 的12月; talk among each other as a community; and consider testing the concept with a tasting room-only implementation.

“The (wine producers) who said ‘no’ they’re not interested cited logistics; the process is hard,帕尔默说。. “但人们的兴趣程度表明，人们对此充满热情.”

Potter talked about the research he and fellow glass scientists are currently performing with regard to the bottle washing process. 他解释说，玻璃非常多孔——它的孔隙以纳米为单位, 等于十亿分之一米. 在这种情况下，液体储存在瓶子里, 葡萄酒-可以降解玻璃，沉淀在瓶子内部的表面下. That residue is evident in its odor and potentially could impact the taste of the wine. 他把葡萄酒对瓶子的影响比作泡菜对罐子的影响. “这是葡萄酒生产商的一个主要问题，”波特说.

波特的研究正在寻找一种洗瓶子的方法, 使用清洁剂，如氢氧化钠, 其中有一层非常薄的——小到一微米, 或者百万分之一米的玻璃表面被移除, 带走任何残留的水分, 气味分子, 留下一个新的, 更原始的内部表面的瓶子. 研究 uses infrared microscopy to determine the thickness of the layer of glass which needs to be removed from the interior bottle surface.

新瓶子, 那些两三岁的孩子, 最容易受到气味分子的影响, 波特指出. 瓶中保留的液体含量随着瓶的陈年而减少.

Wilkinson gave a presentation on 皇冠体育app’s overall glass sustainability research efforts in conjunction with 的12月 grant program.

“Bottle reuse is just one of the things we’re trying to understand about glass reuse and sustainability in New York State,他说. “We are really trying to deploy sustainability methods across several businesses and industries.”

Among the projects Wilkinson and his fellow researchers are undertaking are ways to recycle components in photovoltaic solar panels. The methods they are researching to remove the glass from the panels’ other layers (plastics, 硅电池, 铝外壳)包括使用溶剂, 热(热分层), 机械分离. “The challenge is to develop ways to separate the glass from the laminates without breakage,威尔金森说.

威尔金森说 scientists at Alfred are also studying ways to use recycled glass as an aggregate in the manufacture of cement. 研究表明，玻璃可以 在海洋环境中用来制造混凝土的强化水泥例如在海堤中，传统制造的混凝土可能会破裂. Scientists at Alfred are also studying ways to use recycled glass as an aggregate in materials used to 3-D print buildings.

The DEC-funded projects are part of an overall effort to promote a circular economy, 在这种情况下，一种废物, 玻璃被重新用于另一个目的, 如加强混凝土. “通过使用回收玻璃, 我们可以减少一些制造过程的碳足迹。, 威尔金森说. “问题是，我们如何以一种经济上合理的方式重复使用玻璃.”