在线赌博的研究人员介绍了瓶子清洗项目，讨论了玻璃回收的倡议

瓶子清洗项目是在线赌博玻璃科学家发起的一项更大倡议的一部分, in partnership with 的12月, 是否正在研究使涉及玻璃的制造过程更加环保的方法.

The FLX Bottle Reuse Banquet was hosted by Barrelhouse 6 Distillery, 位于哈蒙德港外的库卡湖，由在线赌博1988年校友卡拉·麦基共同创立. 格雷格·帕尔默, Vitricity的首席执行官, 和阿伦·波特, 在线赌博玻璃创新中心(CGI)博士后研究员, 提供最新资料 the bottle washing project to a group of wine producers from the Finger Lakes Region.

科林威尔金森, professor of glass science at Alfred University, who also directs the CGI, gave a presentation in the University’s research into glass sustainability, an initiative supported by $4.2 million in grant funding from 的12月’s Environmental Protection Fund.

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, and glass researchers.

With a dearth of glass recycling facilities in the state, particularly in Central and Western New York, 许多产自该地区酿酒厂的葡萄酒最后都被扔进了垃圾填埋场. 该洗瓶项目旨在大幅减少进入废物流的酒瓶数量，同时帮助葡萄酒生产商实现经济节约.

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, and meeting the up-front costs of developing bottles washing facilities. “If we can move past those issues, we’ll see some real benefits,” Palmer commented.

帕尔默说，“规模经济”决定了这个项目的可行性:参与的酒庄越多, the more bottles are collected, driving the overall cost down. “As the scale increases, you get something that is significantly cheaper than traditional bottle production.”

The “break-even” point, 清洗和重复使用瓶子比购买新瓶子更划算, 大约是40,000 /月. There are about 130 wine producers in the region; a survey done by Vitricity revealed that on average, wineries use about 10,000 bottles per year in their tasting rooms alone, which equates to an estimated 108,000 /月.

The average cost for purchasing a new bottle is about $1.05, Palmer said; depending on how many wine producers participate, the cost of washing and reusing bottles could be as low as 10 cents per bottle.  成功的关键是让尽可能多的酒庄参与进来.

“Community participation controls viability,” Palmer commented. 他说如果80,000 bottles per month were cleaned for reuse, 对于葡萄酒生产商来说，“这可能会带来自我维持的业务和成本的大幅降低”.

Palmer said that initially, the project would target bottles originating from winery tasting rooms, “the lowest hanging fruit.“目前正在研究建造洗涤设施和购买必要设备的成本，以及创造一种具有成本效益的收集和运输瓶子的方法.

初步调查显示，大多数葡萄酒生产商(约79%)对这一概念感兴趣. 帕尔默估计，要达到这40个目标，需要有80%的葡萄酒生产商参加,000 bottle per month threshold for breaking even.

“You really need scale to make this worthwhile,帕尔默说。. “It would be hard to do with just a handful of wineries.”

葡萄酒生产商担心的问题包括保留使用自己独特酒瓶的能力, as opposed to adopting a universal bottle, and ensuring that bottles are not damaged in transport. 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。. “But the level of interest shows there is a lot of passion about this.”

波特谈到了他和其他玻璃科学家目前正在进行的关于洗瓶过程的研究. He explained that glass is minutely porous—its pores are measured in nanometers, which equates to billionths of a meter. Liquid stored in bottles—in this case, wine—can degrade glass and settle under the surface of the inside of the bottle. 这种残留物在其气味中很明显，可能会影响葡萄酒的味道. He compared the effect wine has on a bottle to that which pickles have on a jar. “It’s a major issue among wine producers,” Potter said.

Potter’s research is looking into a method of washing the bottle, using a cleaning agent such as sodium hydroxide, in which a very thin layer—as small as a micron, or one-millionth of a meter—of the glass surface is removed, taking away any residual moisture, and scent molecules, and leaving a new, more pristine interior surface of the bottle. 研究使用红外显微镜来确定需要从瓶内表面去除的玻璃层的厚度.

The newer bottles, those two or three years old, are most susceptible to being compromised by scent molecules, 波特指出. The retained liquid content in a bottle diminishes as the bottle ages.

威尔金森就在线赌博的整体玻璃可持续性研究工作与DEC资助计划进行了介绍.

“瓶子的再利用只是我们试图了解纽约州玻璃再利用和可持续性的事情之一,他说. “我们正在尝试在多个企业和行业中部署可持续发展方法.”

威尔金森和他的同事们正在进行的项目包括回收光伏太阳能电池板中的组件. 他们正在研究从面板的其他层(塑料)中去除玻璃的方法, 硅电池, aluminum casing) include using solvents, heat (thermal delamination), and mechanical separation. “我们面临的挑战是找到一种方法，既能将玻璃与层压板分开，又不会破裂,威尔金森说.

威尔金森说，在线赌博的科学家们也在研究如何使用回收玻璃作为水泥生产中的骨料. 研究 has shown glass can fortify cement used to make concrete in a marine environment, such as in sea walls, where traditionally-manufactured concrete can break down. 在线赌博的科学家们也在研究如何使用回收玻璃作为3d打印建筑材料的聚集体.

decc资助的项目是促进循环经济整体努力的一部分, in which a waste product—in this case, glass—is reused for another purpose, such as strengthening concrete. “By using recycled glass, we can reduce the carbon footprint” of a number of manufacturing processes, 威尔金森说. “The question becomes, how do we reuse glass in a way that makes financial sense.”