the invention provides a low - cost energy - saving method of manufacturing a glass product directly from laminated glass waste without having to crush the glass and separate the plastic interlayer , even when the glass is cracked . the method comprises heating laminated glass to fuse the glass layers and broken pieces of glass into a glass product . the plastic interlayer initially acts as a binder to hold the glass pieces together , but is then burned out during the heating prior to fusing the glass pieces together . fusing laminated glass with cracked glass produces unique textures and patterns in the glass product . coatings can also be applied to produce different colors and patterns in the glass product .