cullet
UK[ˈkʌlɪt]US[ˈkʌlɪt]
n
Waste glass, especially broken pieces of glass collected for remelting and reuse.
Etymology
The word 'cullet' entered English in the late 17th century from the Anglo-Norman term 'collet', which referred to a small neck or, by extension, the neck of a bottle. This traces back to the Latin word 'collum', meaning 'neck'. In the context of glassmaking, the term became specifically associated with broken glass, likely because fragments from the necks of bottles were a common source of waste material. Over time, its meaning generalized to denote any waste glass collected for recycling, preserving the core idea of discarded fragments ready for a new purpose.
Analysis
This word is a simplex form. It is a loanword from Anglo-Norman, where 'collet' meant a small neck or a bottle fragment. Its ultimate origin is the Latin 'collum', meaning 'neck'.
Examples
The glass factory mixes fresh raw materials with a high percentage of cullet to reduce energy costs.
Workers carefully sorted the colored cullet from the clear glass before the batch was melted.
A successful recycling program depends on a steady supply of clean, contaminant-free cullet.