From windows, cups, and windshields to smartphone screens and even tissue scaffolds, glass is inescapable in today’s world. Though its uses in civilization are beneficial, this material does not just impact our lives—glass manufacturing also impacts the environment, and not always in a good way.

Every year, approximately 86 million tons of carbon dioxide is produced from the manufacturing of glass.¹ The carbon dioxide comes from using fossil fuels to heat the high-temperature melting furnaces, as well as from the reaction products of the carbonate batch materials.