Ever think about those old TVs we used to have long before our beloved flat panels? Those big, boxy television sets, along with computer monitors, were outfitted with Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) that are now overtaking landfills with about 860 million pounds of waste because they’re extremely hard to recycle. San Francisco-based Fireclay Tile has a different idea. Take the old CRT glass and turn them into recycled glass tile.
When the company started replacing their old computers, it made the owner Paul Burns wonder what was happening to those old monitors. After finding out they just pile up in landfills, he figured out a way to take your old computer and turn them into tiles.
The super thick glass is separated from the rest of the monitor and once it’s deemed safe, it’s crushed and demagnetized. The material then goes through a multi-step crushing process that turns the glass particles into tiny pieces that can then melt when exposed to heat. The glass is cast into molds with a bit of white color pigment to lighten the natural CRT color. The result is a lighter gray color that they’ve named Phosphor.
The tiles are available in 2 x 8″, 2 x 4″, and penny round mosaic sizes and you can choose from Gloss or Matte finishes.

4 Comments
Tristan on 04.24.2014 at 23:37 PM
The difficulty with recycling CRT glass is the lead content.
terre tulsiak on 04.26.2014 at 07:50 AM
I think that is the point of this option. It is embedded- at least for now- into the tile. ( how come nobody has a problem with the lead in crystal?)
Tristan on 04.29.2014 at 10:58 AM
No, the amount of lead in CRTs is much higher than leaded crystal. The process of recycling CRTs does remove the lead from them and it is likely that these tiles have “safe” levels of lead in them.
Recycling lead from CRT glass is a fairly expensive process and the glass left over is discarded due to its lack of utility. Some new recycling processes do produce glass clean enough to re-use for common applications.
Mitchell Bernard on 06.21.2014 at 08:11 AM
We have custom printed pool tiles of 100 per cent recycled glass. It’s dot mounted to easily follow contours. You can have any pictures printed in high resolution photo quality.
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