British Glass has rebutted recent claims made by a Coca-Cola spokesman in Spain that glass could be more damaging to the environment than some other packaging materials. “The simple facts are these: Glass is infinitely recyclable back into new bottles and jars and is extensively recycled” said David Dalton, Chief Executive. “Wherever it comes from – a bottle of wine from Argentina or a jar of marmalade from Oxford - glass can go directly into the local recycling infrastructure.

A used bottle or jam jar is always 100% recyclable. Recycling glass is straightforward, unlike recycling many other packaging materials. A glass bottle is remelted back into a glass bottle. And glass doesn’t deteriorate, no matter how many times it’s recycled.”

When it comes to packaging for beauty, fragrance and medical products, three in four European millennials would opt for products in glass over any other packaging material, according to an independent consumer research survey commissioned by FEVE, the European Container Glass Federation. Crucially, glass is seen as the best packaging material by 77% of the 2030 consumers surveyed – coming out ahead of plastic/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and metal across five European markets. This strong support for glass can be attributed to its environmental credentials, its ability to preserve both quality and scent of the contents and its premium feel.

Owens-Illinois has reported full year net sales of $6.9 billion for the past 12 months, representing an increase of $8 million compared to the previous year. Prices were 2% higher on a global basis, due mainly to a favourable sales mix and ongoing cost inflation. Total glass container shipments fell by nearly 2%, driven by the transfer of production to the company’s joint venture with Constellation Brands, ongoing trends in the US beer sector, plus discrete events and capacity constraints in both the Americas and Europe.  
The joint venture with Constellation Brands in Mexico continues to perform well, again delivering higher sales, driven in part by the commissioning of a fourth furnace in early 2018. A fifth furnace is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

Poland-based Press Glass SA has selected software specialist FeneTech, creator of FeneVision ERP software, as its long-term software partner. The partnership will begin with the implementation of FeneVision ERP at Press Glass plants in Poland, followed by installation of the software at Press Glass Inc in North Carolina, USA. After successful implementation at these facilities, the software will be introduced at the company’s other factories.

Common to all countries, a redesigned punt mark will appear under the bottles and jars produced by the Verallia Group’s 31 plants in 10 different countries. Through this initiative, Verallia wants to facilitate the identification of the Verallia brand throughout the world. From now on, a ‘V’ marking will appear on the production of all Verallia Group plants, regardless of the country in which they are located, followed by the country's letter. The first productions with this logo were carried out at Verallia factories in Argentina, Chile, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Spain.

The SORG Group has been awarded a contract for the planning, delivery, construction and commissioning of the glass melting system at the Wiegand-Glas plant in Schleusingen, Germany. The melting furnace is a gas-heated, regenerative, end port furnace, with a melting capacity of 450 tonnes/day for flint and light green glass. Four forehearths are connected to the melting tank by means of a SORG STW distributor. According to the production machine configuration, two SORG 340S+ and two SORG STF forehearths are to be installed.

Glaston has received orders for two advanced flat tempering furnaces from Press Glass SA. The FC Series and Jumbo Series lines will be delivered to Poland in the second and third quarters of 2019. The Jumbo Series machine for sophisticated, jumbo-sized architectural glass was launched at glasstec 2018.

Saint-Gobain has again been certified Top Employer Global by the Top Employers Institute. The group is one of 14 companies worldwide to have received this certification label. It stood out, in particular, for the attention paid to the integration of new employees, professional development programmes, as well as to the management of careers, internal mobility and succession planning.

In total, 32 countries in which Saint-Gobain operates were labelled: This is one more than in 2018, since Indonesia has been certified for the first time this year. The group also saw its certifications ‘Top Employer Europe’, ‘Top Employer North America’, ‘Top Employer Asia-Pacific’ and ‘Latin America’ renewed.

Saint-Gobain has opened a fifth float glass production line in India, located at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. This state-of-the-art facility was built within the Saint-Gobain World Glass Complex, a 70 hectare industrial site that already includes two floats, two coaters, advanced glass processing units for the construction industry, fire safety and the automotive industry (Sekurit), as well as a mirror line. In particular, the line manufactures clear, tinted and solar control reflective glass and primarily serves domestic demand, which is growing at a rate of 8% per annum.