Recycling glass scraps.

I have a glass shop working on my property. It produces a lot of scrap glass. I was wondering what are some good ways to re-use glass shards of various sizes.

They could be used for lampworking (making glass beads and other decorative objects). People will pay decent money for handmade beads, ornaments, figurines etc. in local "artisanal" shops, gift shops, etc. if you are in an area where there's a market for that kind of thing. Or you can try Etsy. I only ever used purpose bought rods of glass when I used to do a little lampworking, but I have heard of people using shards and recycled glass. I have also known people to embed chunks of colored glass into DIY cob buildings, benches, etc. if you like that look. If all you've got is plain clear glass, though, I don't know...I have seen it tumbled smooth and used in landscaping for pathways or even as a sort of mulch...can substitute for gravel.

Thanks for the feedback!
Its actually a lampworking shop so the beads and vessels I'm making is where the scrap is coming from. I fill buckets of scrap clear and coloured glass pretty quickly.. I like the tumbling idea. It just seems like such a good resource that shouldn't be shipped off to the recycling plant if I can make better use of it here.

Tumbled It may be of use to a florist or other crafters that use glass blobs.

Ha, I was imagining a window glass shop for some reason! Can you maybe make your own frit from the scraps?

Slumping can be used to create many glass items. You need to know the annealing temperature. Hopefully they aren't mixing 20 grades in the waste stream.

At 3-5mm size, it's a great aggregate for a firm area where you might have purchased crushed rock... such as for a walkway, work area, parking for a RV or for your driveway.

It can be used in concrete/mortar mix... especially at less than 2mm

Crush it to a powder and you can mix colors of powder to create the perfect color and then melt it into glass for artwork.

Your question reminded me of this story I saw about an island in Australia whose residents were trying to find creative solutions for excess glass waste in their community:
Recycling glass bottles turns into a community project for Flinders Island community
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-30/flinders-island-glass-recycling-solving-community-waste-problem/101832322
They used it to fill potholes, to fill permeable paving grids, for pavers, and to lines pathways.

Here are some uses I found for glass pebbles on Pinterest:


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https://youtu.be/uqoBf__Qxxw

Marbles are a kind of glass.  In this new video excerpt, Reid shows us how he uses marbles to create a really cool effect at the willowbank at Wheaton Labs