The development marks a further step toward a circular value chain for automotive glazing. AGC currently operates its automotive glass production with a cullet ratio of more than 56 percent.
Expanding flat glass circularity
Reiling and AGC have worked together for many years on the recycling of pre- and post-consumer flat glass from the architectural sector. The partnership has now expanded into automotive glass recycling.
Under the process, AGC supplies pre-consumer windshields collected from its production network to Reiling’s specialized recycling facilities in Germany. Reiling processes the material and returns high-quality cullet to AGC for reuse in automotive glass manufacturing. The process creates an industrial closed-loop system for flat glass-to-flat glass recycling.
The companies also see potential to extend the system to larger waste streams from aftermarket activities and end-of-life vehicles across Europe.
Advanced processing for laminated glass
Recycling laminated automotive glass for reuse in automotive glass production has long posed technical challenges. Modern processing technologies and improved separation systems now allow the efficient removal of contaminants such as polyvinyl butyral interlayers, coatings, metal wiring, and electronic components.
The resulting cullet meets the strict quality specifications required for automotive float glass production. In cooperation with AGC’s research and development teams, Reiling established a treatment protocol for the use of recycled windshield glass in float furnaces.
According to the companies, windshields produced with recycled material achieve the same quality, safety, and performance standards as products manufactured from virgin raw materials.
Environmental impact and resource savings
The increased use of recycled glass cullet reduces both emissions and raw material consumption. According to the companies, every ton of cullet used can save up to 0.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and reduce the consumption of virgin raw materials by approximately 1.2 tonnes.
Reiling also recovers and recycles additional material fractions from windshield processing, including plastics and metals.
The partners state that substantial volumes of production waste have already been reintegrated into glass manufacturing. From 2026 onward, AGC plans to collect and process more than 300,000 pre-consumer windshields annually.
Next step: post-consumer windshields
Following the successful implementation of the pre-consumer recycling loop, Reiling and AGC plan to expand collection and treatment capacities further. The next phase will focus on integrating post-consumer windshields into the recycling system in order to strengthen circularity in the European automotive glass sector.
