Recycled Glass For Art & Design

A research project by Elena Esposito and Anna Johnson

Glass production has a disastrous effect on the environment; from certain colors of glass adding harsh chemicals to the atmosphere to the amount of natural gas required to melt the material, glass production is ultimately harmful. Recycled glass is an untapped resource that is “100% recyclable” with “no loss in quality,” according to Robert Lietz, the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council executive director.  This study is an exploration of combining glass casting, fusing, and mosaic techniques with bottle glass and trash glass to create technical objects and a reliable process for working with recycled glass. 

Material Studies

For this research project, we explored different ways of preparing, melting, and finishing glass in order to develop a successful process for using recycled glass. This included breaking the glass in various ways in order to achieve different sizes and shapes, changing our kiln schedules based on viscosity and coefficiency of expansion, utilizing techniques such as casting and fusing that played more to the strengths of bottled glass, and adapting our finishing methods to work with the unusual nature of the glass.

One of the first tests we did, casting different colored beer bottles. We had to use bricks and broken kiln shelves as dams because we did not have the funding to purchase anything that would give us a unified result

The space outside of the glass shop at school where we sorted and cleaned the bottles we collected

Crushing bottles into small frit

Pyramid Studies

  • Hendricks Midsomer Solecist Pyramid, Elena Esposito, 2.5” x 2.5” x 2.5”, 2021, Hendricks Bottle

  • Sky Vodka Pyramid, 2.5” x 2.5” x 2.5”, 2021, Elena Esposito, Sky Vodka Bottle

  • Brown and White Bottle Glass Pyramid, Elena Esposito, 2” x 2” x 2”, 2021, Bottled Glass

  • Andrés Champagne Pyramid, Elena Esposito, 2.5” x 2.5” x 2.5”, 2021, Andrés Champagne Bottle

  • Bombay Sapphire Pyramid, Elena Esposito, 2.5” x 2.5” x 2.5, 2021, Bombay Sapphire Bottle

  • Studio Glass, Elena Esposito, 2.5” x 2.5” x 2.5”, 2021, Studio Glass

Particle Size Studies

  • Particle Size Sample 1 Side, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 1 Top, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 2 Side, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 2 Top, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 3 Side, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 3 top, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 4 side, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 4 top, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 5 side, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 5 top, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 6 side, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 6 top, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 7 side, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 7 bottom, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 8 side, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

  • Particle Size Sample 8 top, Elena Esposito, 1” x 1” x 2.25”, 2021, Budweiser Beer Bottle

Other Studies

  • Magenta and Yellow Slump, Elena Esposito, 7.5” x 7.5” x 1.5”, 2021, Trash Glass

  • Layer Studies , Elena Esposito, 1”x1”x2.25”, 2021, Bottle Glass, Recycled Studio Glass

  • Fused Cubes, Elena Esposito, 2”x3”x1”, 2021, Bottle Glass, Recycled Studio Glass

  • Trash and Bottled Glass Half Circle, Elena Esposito, 1” x 3” x 1.25”, 2021, Trash Glass, Bottled Glass

  • Green Slump, Elena Esposito, 9” x 4.5” x 1.5”, 2021, Trash Glass, Bottled Glass

  • Bottled Glass Half Circle, Elena Esposito, 1” x 2” x 3.5”, 2021, Bottled Glass

  • Yellow Cane Bowl, Elena Esposito, 8”x8”x2”, 2021, Recycled Studio Glass

  • Mixed Glass Paperweight, Elena Esposito, 4”x3”x3”, 2021, Bottle Glass and Soft Glass

  • Bottle melt , Elena Esposito , 5”x4”x.5”, 2021, Bottle Glass

  • Blue and Purple Stacked Cubes, Elena Esposito, 2.5” x 2” x 2”, 2021, Bottled Glass

  • Purple and Brown Slump, Elena Esposito, 7.5” x 3.75” x 1.5”, 2021, Trash Glass, Bottled Glass

  • Fused Bottle Strips, Elena Esposito, 6”x6”x1.5”, 2021, Bottle Glass

Color & Density Studies

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Color Studies, Anna Johnson, 3”x3”x0.25”, Bottle Glass, 2021

Fused & Slumped Studies

  • Collage, Anna Johnson, 6.25”x6.25”x1”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Collage, Anna Johnson, 6.25”x6.25”x1”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Collage, Anna Johnson, 6.25”x6.25”x1”, Bottle Glass, 2021

  • Collage, Anna Johnson, 6.25”x6.25”x1”, Bottle Glass, 2021

Conclusions & Findings

Experimenting with these different techniques, different processes were found to work with the material. Recycled glass proved to be more nuanced, with different types of bottles working differently in the casting and fusing processes. While mixing trash glass into the processes resulted in vastly different results than expected, working well in the casting process but not when engaging the material with fusing or slumping techniques. This type of research is vital due to the future of glass as a production and artistic material. Knowing how to reuse and repurpose glass and other existing materials will be vitally important.

Elena & Anna

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