An old master breathes new life into discarded glass

With more than five thousand years of history, glass has long been admired for its transparency and plasticity. It has been used in countless applications, in everything from the most practical devices to the finest works of art. In recent years, glass has been increasingly used in high-tech LCD lighting, as well as optical, ophthalmic, and medical instruments.

Taiwan’s own Wu Chun-Tzu, the founder of Spring Pool Glass, has been working with glass since the age of 16. Now, with more than half a century of experience in the industry, Wu has come up with this phrase to describe the use of this material over the past five thousand years: “When it comes to glass, one never stops learning.” Having devoted three-quarters of his life to working with glass, Wu has had the opportunity to work with all kinds of kilns, including coal, gas, oil burning, and electric kilns. He has become used to working around high temperatures. Because he sweats so much when he works, Wu has joked that he is the person in Taiwan who drinks the most water! Currently, Wu’s work can be seen in the Taiwan Expo Pavilion, the Glass Museum, Taipei 101, Taoyuan Airport, and other famous landmarks. For these works, most of the raw materials have come from Wu’s integrated waste glass recycling facility. In fact, Wu has always maintained that the recycling of waste glass not only makes good business sense, but is also good for the planet. According to Wu, silica sand accounts for 60 to 70 percent of the content of glass, and his team recycles more than 100,000 tons of waste glass every year. This means a reduction of up to 70,000 tons of mining ore, as well as a significant reduction in borax and the import of alkai and other materials.

In recent years, Wu has become more actively involved in processing recycled waste glass, and he has successfully developed an environmentally-friendly green building material called “glassstone.” This material can be used in the walls of commercial spaces, play areas, and public facilities for a bright, new look and feel. It can even be used in combination with different wallpapers to enable DIY enthusiasts to brighten up their own living spaces.

Just this year, Wu and his team have once again caused the building material industry to sit up and take notice with the introduction of “light energy-saving bricks.” Made from recycled LCD fragments and cement, these bricks can withstand temperatures of up to 600 degrees. In fact, even if a gas burner is used on one side of this brick, the other side of the brick can still be safely touched. What’s more, even when exposed to high heat, no trace marks will remain on this brick. And at one-fifth the weight of conventional red bricks, these “light energy-saving bricks” have proven to be very popular, with orders for them continuing to pour in since they were first released. In addition, the bricks offer excellent soundproofing superior to that of traditional brick walls.

What will Wu come up with next? Guided by the philosophy that “When it comes to glass, one never stops learning,” Wu is certain to develop something incredibly exciting.