Over the past 60 years, the General Assembly of the United Nations has acknowledged important fields of international endeavour and their contributions to society by declaring United Nations International Years. The International Commission on Glass, along with the Community of Glass Associations and the Glass Art Society are promoting a United Nations International Year of Glass for 2022. It will underline the technological, scientific and economic importance of glass… that transparent and enabling material underpinning many technologies and can facilitate the development of more just and sustainable societies to meet the challenges of globalisation. Alicia Durán explains.

Andreas Kohl, Global Senior Vice President Operations, Technics and Quality Moulded Glass, discusses some of the key priorities for the international Gerresheimer Group in terms of satisfying increasingly more stringent customer requirements and the organisation’s growing success in reducing its carbon footprint. The full version of this article appears in the September/October issue that has been mailed globally and is also now available free of charge in the digital archive*.

Having overseen impressive progress at the world’s largest automotive glass facility since its commission in Ohio in 2016, Jeff Daochuan Liu’s responsibilities with Fuyao Glass recently expanded to managing all North America activities, including the company’s float glass facility in Illinois and operations in Mexico. He spoke exclusively to Glass Worldwide about the restructuring, as well as the impact to the business following the Covid-19 pandemic. The full version of this article appears in the September/October issue that has been mailed globally and is also now available free of charge in the digital archive*.

The glass container manufacturing industry is seizing an opportunity to recapture packaging market share in North American markets, with a focus on key policy and market initiatives. A re-energised Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) has expanded its membership base and continues to explore new programmes to mobilise the industry around growing markets for glass packaging. Scott DeFife reports. The full version of this article appears in the September/October issue that has been mailed globally and is also now available free of charge in the digital archive*.

As Secretary General of Europe’s trade association for the flat glass sector, Bertrand Cazes described prevailing market conditions and future prospects to Glass Worldwide, preferred journal of Glass for Europe. The full version of this article appears in the September/October issue that has been mailed globally and is also now available free of charge in the digital archive*.

A specialist in batch and cullet plants, recognised by customers throughout the world, ZIPPE Industrieanlagen celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2020. Some 250 people work for the head office in Germany, with local sales and service offices and 30 representatives providing support to international customers. Dr Bernd-Holger Zippe and Susanne Zippe detail the company’s history and its growth into a leading supplier to the global glass industry.

As hybrid furnace designs seem to be a sensible option for glass manufacturers to start reducing CO2 emissions by moving away from fossil fuel, René Meuleman discusses considerations to be made when scaling up electrical power supplies and why collaboration is a necessity. The full version of this article appears in the September/October issue that has been mailed globally and is also now available free of charge in the digital archive*.

For its latest glass handing machines for stacking sheets of glass, SCHOTT chose the space saving, six axis robot from Comau, which also included the complete integration of Siemens’ Sinumerik Run MyRobot / Direct Control in the robot arm. Tobias Wachtmann reports. The full version of this article appears in the September/October issue that has been mailed globally and is also now available free of charge in the digital archive*.