Economic and environmental impacts of CRT glass recycling in the circular economy

The growing accumulation of obsolete cathode ray tube (CRT) glass presents significant environmental and economic challenges because its heavy-metal-containing composition limits conventional disposal options, while closed-loop recycling has become technically and financially unattractive. Transforming waste CRT panel glass into value-added radiation-shielding materials may reduce disposal burdens, conserve primary raw materials, and support circular-economy strategies. This study evaluates the technical, environmental, and resource-efficiency potential of modifying CRT screen glass with 20 and 40 wt% Na 2 CO 3 . The mixtures were consolidated through solid-state reaction and cold isostatic pressing, followed by characterization of density, Vickers microhardness, chemical composition, and microstructure. Charged-particle stopping powers, projected ranges, and fast- and thermal-neutron interaction cross-sections were calculated using ESTAR and SRIM over an energy range of 15 keV to 15 MeV. Increasing the Na 2 CO 3 content reduced the density from 3.117 to 2.894 g cm −3 and increased the Vickers hardness from 495 to 521 H V. The fast-neutron removal cross-section increased from 0.0776 to 0.0892 cm −1 , while the total thermal-neutron cross-section rose from 0.487 to 0.638 cm −1 . Higher mass stopping powers were also obtained for protons, alpha particles, and carbon ions. These improvements indicate that Na 2 CO 3 modification enhances the mechanical performance and neutron-shielding capacity of recycled CRT glass. By converting hazardous electronic waste into a functional engineering material, the proposed approach can reduce landfill dependence, lower demand for virgin shielding materials, and create additional economic value from an underutilized waste stream. The findings demonstrate the potential contribution of CRT glass recycling to resource recovery, waste minimization, and circular-economy development.