[timmy-turner]

I wonder which technology they are using to remove the silicon and metal films from the glass. Two guys that used to work in the same shared office space had developed a process to do exactly that. They stumbled opon it while experimenting with extremely bright and powerfull UV flash lights (couple of kilowatts for the fraction of a second). These powerful UV-bursts then remove films from surfaces due to the tensions introduced by the sudden heating. Building the first prototype in one of the guys basement involved some insane EE-hacking on their part such as manufacturing flash tubes to their own specs and building high voltage transformers to drive the flash tubes.

Last info I had was that they got founded and are trying to scale their process, opening a small experimental plant.

The only alternative to their technology that I know of is either throwing away the glass or melting everything and then recoup all elements. The former produces lots of waste and the latter needs huge amounts of energy.