cullet

noun

cul·​let ˈkə-lət 

: 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

The organization recycles glass into sand for coastal restoration and cullet to manufacture new bottles. — Caroline Neal, Louisville Courier Journal, 25 Aug. 2026

For instance, increasing the proportion of recycled glass scrap, known as cullet, significantly lowers furnace energy demands. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 11 Aug. 2026

One of the key hurdles in Sicily’s circular glass system is ensuring a consistent supply of high-quality cullet. — Emily Cappiello, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026

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

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

Rhymes for cullet

• gullet
• mullet
• rivulet