There is certainly a possibility that SOME beadmakers in Java recycle old glass to make new reproduction beads.

However, if we take into consideration the nature of the current industry that makes new beads, it is clear that ALL of these beads cannot be made from old glass—and that current practices and output logically rely on new glass (whether made in Java, recycled from available glass—as we KNOW they do—or using old glass. Or some COMBINATION of these possibilities.

The primary questions are these: WHY would they use old glass to make new beads, if plenty of new glass were available? What is the motive? Is it MORE LIKELY that this is just a story to make the beads more desirable or acceptable?

For one thing, the issue of compatibility springs immediately to my mind. You can't just take any (old or new) glass, and combine several colors together, and expect them all to be compatible and to fuse together—such that multicolored mosaic-glass products will result successfully. This is infinitely more possible using glasses made NOW, that are made to be compatible.

As with all beads, anywhere in the world, the stories that are insisted upon are often untrue, and are geared for an audience that is not doubtful, and certainly not knowledgeable about the specifics of glassmaking and glassworking, and who may not ask reasonable and specific questions based on knowledge.

I have to remain skeptical of this issue, until it is demonstrated.

Jamey