As we near the 21st century, a feasible solution for the excess glass waste in New York State is evidently needed. How big is the municipal glass waste problem? Twenty-two million tons of municipal glass waste were collected in 1993 alone. The glass waste problem affects anyone who must pay taxes to support the landfills. Schuller International, an insulating company and Ival Salyer, senior research scientist at the UDRI, have made major breakthroughs which can be used to solve the glass waste problem. In 1998 landfills in New York State will be closed down, so if the continued dumping of glass waste is not curbed there will be nowhere to put the glass.

The proposed solution is to use glass waste and phase-change materials to make a new type of insulation. The principles involved are Schuller International's recycled glass insulation (Fesco Board) together with Ival Salyer's phase-change wallboard (paraffin wax). The final product will be a phase-change material inside glass containers which will be placed inside walls as a form of insulation. The result of this will be a cost efficient insulation which will save money as well as landfill space.

This new form of insulation means a whole new era of insulation techniques as well as a reduced amount of glass waste in the future, and as of yet, no negative effects have been found or hypothesized. s