Discarded boro-alumino-silicate pharmaceutical glass may be upcycled, by means of a ‘cold consolidation’ process, into innovative construction materials, both dense and porous. The process exploits the peculiar sensitivity of the selected glass to alkali activation, i.e. gelation of suspensions of fine glass powders in alkaline solution. For the sake of sustainability, the present study explores solutions at low molarity; in particular, powder <100 μm are attacked using NaOH/KOH aqueous solutions (2.5-5M), with a liquid/solid ratio of 0.67. During basic attack, the surface of glass particles is partially dismantled by hydroxide anions, and the released product lead to gel formation. Slurries, prepared during the process of alkaline activation, are cured for 7-14 days at 40°C, to obtain solid samples. This result is fulfilled thanks to the water release upon drying phase, during which condensation reactions between -OH terminals take place. This allows to create strong bonds connecting particles proved by boiling tests. Preliminary studies (supported by NMR and ICP analysis) suggest that alkali cations act are not involved in the main gel phase binding adjacent glass particles. This phase is so stable to resist the attack of boiling water. This attack determines the leaching just of secondary phases, formed upon gelation, in which alkali are concentrated. The obtained materials, starting from glass of various purity degrees, can be used directly after consolidation process, since they show density/compressive strength ratio similar to ones nowadays available on the market. Moreover, alkali activated glass can be used as a matrix to embed inert materials such as foundry sands or glass originated from the plasma gasification of municipal solid waste (“Plasmastone”). Foamed materials, for thermal and acoustic insulation can be achieved adding, at the end of basic attack, cenospheres or expanded glass (“Poraver”). Foams can be obtained, as an alternative, just by adding sodium perborate monohydrate as foaming agent and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) as stabilizing agent.