Interview: Xaquixe Glass Innovation Studio, Pioneers in Sustainable Glass

Xaquixe Glass Innovation Studio works in a 380-square-meter space that, for 18 years, has been performing glass recycling techniques and renewable energy in Oaxaca, Mexico. The studio uses processes based on sustainability for the benefit of the ecosystem. Today, it is the only factory in the world that uses 95% recycled glass and 95% reused cooking oil. In addition, Xaquixe provides jobs to communities, selling unique pieces in shape and color, reflecting the culture of Oaxaca.

We were able to chat with Salime Harp Cruces, founding partner of Xaquixe Studio, along with Christian Thornton. An engineer by profession, she has built a great team with her partner, an expert recycling artist who deals with technology. In addition to collaborating with the planet, they create culture, art, and employment from reused and recycled materials through the collection of glass bottles and burnt oil from restaurants and hotels in Oaxaca and its surroundings.

Innovation and passion are two words that define this duo. They place great importance on reducing harmful materials for the environment with a very specific action: reuse everyday materials with amazing results.

María Eugenia Díaz de Vivar: How did you start working together?

Salime Harp Cruces: Christian (Thornton) was my teacher at UrbanGlass (Brooklyn, NY). I had the idea for a project of creating a recycled glass workshop in the city of Oaxaca. When I told him about it in class, I was glad to hear that he was interested in my proposal. Christian already had experience with recycling and we began to see that our projects were converging. Recycling glass is helping to reduce the burden on the environment, and this is where Christian and I found a common mission. He was already supporting this cause in Maho Bay (USVI) when we met. His objective was to transform the waste glass from beer bottles and other containers into souvenirs and decorative pieces that would be sold back to the same tourists that consumed them.

MEDV: How did you decide on making glass from recycled bottles?

SHC: My concern comes from my childhood; even then I was struck by the mismanagement of waste in my city (Oaxaca). As years went by, my interest in this grew. I did my graduate studies in glass production and learned that it takes less energy to melt waste glass than raw materials. Furthermore, when melted, 40% of the raw material mass is lost. Christian Thornton was the one who designed all the furnaces and equipment that we use at Xaquixe for blown, fused, cast, and flameworked glass pieces. This equipment has been in operation for 20 years!

At Xaquixe, he developed the concept of "formulated glass" which consists of 95% waste glass and 5% raw materials, which achieves an similar first-batched appearance by restoring shine and transparency, but also makes it compatible to use with color. We currently use Reichenbach brand colors, but have also used Zimmerman and Gaffer. While we have faced many challenges from the beginning, today this glass has a quality and resistance that allows Xaquixe to produce articles for tableware and architectural works in glass.

MEDV: How did you switch to using burnt oil to heat the furnaces?

SHC: The challenge was presented to us in 2011, when the price of gas increased by almost 300% and we were on the verge of bankruptcy. By 2012, 85% of blown glass workshops in Mexico had closed and the same was happening in other countries. That same year, we learned that glass workshops generate a lot of pollution (CO2 and NOx), so the challenge was two-fold. We decided to present a project to the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) that proposed using burnt cooking oil as a renewable energy source. Christian developed (and we patented) the appropriate burner to achieve its combustion. Today we have the support of around 120 restaurants in the city of Oaxaca and its surroundings that provide us with raw materials. This allows us to collect burnt oil, avoiding contamination of the city's river. Now vegetable oil is the renewable energy used to fuel our gloryholes.

MEDV: What changes or improvements have been required to adapt to the use of oil?

SHC: At one point we realized that we needed to optimize the energy of the smelting furnace. In 2014, we observed that we had accumulated a substantial amount of "sludge" from the oil casting and centrifugation. Advised by scientists from the Brandenburg Technical University, we again applied CONACYT to, through an anaerobic reactor (biodigester), obtain methane gas (biogas) from these solids. We are currently in the research stage to generate electrical energy from solar concentration and micro turbines, to be used in our tempering furnaces.

MEDV: How does the Studio currently function?

SHC: Today, there are fifteen people working with Xaquixe, among artisans (glassblowers) and other areas. Many others support us by collecting glass and oil. We are glad to know that the work done generates income for other people. In addition to our tableware, we produce a range of other objects. Currently, we export our products to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, and the Cayman Islands.

MEDV: Does Xaquixe collaborate with artists and designers?

SHC: Yes, we made a big collaboration with Gandalf Gavan in 2005; an installation for the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca entitled "Ícaro", composed of 3,500 organic silver spheres of different diameters that hung over the tourist walkway of our city. From 2008 to 2018, we worked with Maestro Francisco Toledo on various projects, including a glass installation in a building of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), pieces for the "Instrumenta Oaxaca" festival and lead-free stained glass for the San Pablo Cultural Center in Oaxaca.

MEDV: Have grants helped you to finance your research?

SHC: Yes. CONACYT and the Alfredo Harp Helú Oaxaca Foundation (FAHHO) allowed us to design and develop clean technologies, and generate renewable energy. Thanks to this, we have also been able to support artisans who work with clay and ceramics, as well as mezcal producers. The support of these institutions has allowed us to design ovens so that artisans can, for example, stop using wood. Based on these improvements, they can reach the appropriate temperatures to use lead-free enamels (in the case of ceramics and clay), and carry out agave cooking and distillation (in the case of mezcal producers). This considerably reduces CO2 and NOx emissions, improving the health of artisans, and a better quality of their products.

MEDV: Please describe the educational space you created, Xaquixe Proenvironmental Processes (PPX).

SHC: It's a non-profit education and laboratory arm of Xaquixe to research and adapt green technologies based on local systems and resources. We evolved PPX into a skills training center, consultancy, and prototype lab to support small, artisanal enterprises. PPX space includes: mezcal distillation ovens with copper and clay stills, ceramic oven, lab equipment, multi-union solar cell tower with heliostats for solar concentration, biomass burners, multicombustion burners, glass kilns, glass annealers, glass reheating furnaces, anaerobic biodigesters, solar concentration panel prototypes, rain catchment system.

MEDV: What impact do you generate in the social environment?

SHC: Xaquixe works with research centers and universities so that the principle of "sustainability" spreads to students and academics. We are interested that they can know the relevance and importance of transforming waste into new products or clean energy. On the other hand, we want our clients to feel part of this positive impact on the environment through responsible consumption. Let them know that with each glass or jug they support our mission and that by promoting our work, they spread the message in pursuit of a greater balance with nature. Finally, we are excited to be able to generate income for the families of artisans who collaborate with us and to see how people in restaurants, bars, and hotels respond when it comes to separating glass and oil to give them a valuable purpose.

Xaquixe Bios:

Salime Harp Cruces was born in Oaxaca. She is an industrial engineer who graduated from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) with a thesis on industrial processes in glass production. She specialized in glass techniques in blowing, fusing and lead-free stained glass. She has participated in national and international group exhibitions.

Christian Thornton is an American artist who has been immersed in the world of glass for more than 30 years, including as a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Chicago Navy Pier Museum. In 2000, he began researching and experimenting with recycled glass, and in 2001, settled in Oaxaca and founded Xaquixe with Salime Harp Cruces. He has developed both material processes and equipment they use to produce an array of functional glass objects. He actively collaborates with artists and designers. www.xaquixe.mx Instagram: @xaquixe