cullet

noun

cul·​let ˈkə-lət How to pronounce cullet (audio)
: broken or refuse glass usually added to new material to facilitate melting in making glass

Examples of cullet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Any of the cullet-acceptable glass that does not meet manufacturing standards does not go to waste. Maria Marabito, Treehugger, 6 Apr. 2023 The sand or cullet is then sold for flooring, glass products, as gravel for driveways or used in sandbags, which is a valuable resource during hurricane season. Bysarah Beth Guevara, ABC News, 21 May 2022 Glass in particular is a material that normally fetches a high price on the resale market when properly handled and transformed into cullet (the fancy name for recycled glass). Tracey Lindeman, Fortune, 29 Jan. 2020 The cullet is melted in furnaces to create glass that goes into the millions of bottles needed by MillerCoors and Budweiser bottling plants in the state. Aldo Svaldi, The Denver Post, 25 Aug. 2019 Momentum buys all the broken glass, cleans it, separates it by color, and refines it into what is called cullet. Administrator_test, The Denver Post, 5 Mar. 2017 The cullet will be delivered to Owens-Illinois’ bottlemaking plant in Windsor, about 20 miles down the road from the Budweiser brewery and partners with MillerCoors at Rocky Mountain Bottle Co. in Wheat Ridge. The Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2017 Momentum's new facility now produces high-quality cullet for use in bottle manufacturing and in other industries. The Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cullet.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from French cueillette act of gathering, from Latin collecta, from feminine of collectus, past participle of colligere

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cullet was in 1817

Dictionary Entries Near cullet

Cite this Entry

“Cullet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cullet. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on cullet

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!