Japanese Firms Developing Windshield Glass Recycling Project

Fuji Heavy Industries and Nippon Muki Co. have developed a method of recycling automotive glass for use in engine compartments as sound-damping material.

Glass has been seen as tough to recycle and accounts for almost a fifth of the total volume of waste when cars are taken off the road.

Side-window glass is crush and mixed with other glass materials, then melted and processed into glass wool. Shaped and subsequently heat-pressed, the glass wool can be molded into myriad forms for attachment under the bonnet.

Nippon Muki a mid-sized Japanese supplier, will make the glass wool. Fuji Heavy, which makes Subaru cars, will purchase all output for use in its vehicles, starting with the Legacy sedan wagon and the Forester SUV

Subaru says it has not yet found a way to use rear screens and windshields in the process as they contain heating wires and anti-shatter film.