Towards the end of 2019, Verallia completed a €24 million investment at the group’s specialist glass food packaging production site in Lagnieu, located some 50km north east of Lyon. A project involving rebuilding one of two furnaces and modernising the associated production lines, this is the latest in a series of important Verallia investments in France, valued collectively at more than €200 million in the past four years. The full version of this article appears in the January/February issue *.

Following an official ground breaking ceremony in southern Georgia, USA last October, partners in the proposed Arglass Yamamura glass container project are targeting a November 2020 plant start up. Jose Arozamena, Chairman and CEO of Arglass Yamamura and Koji Yamamura, President and CEO of Japan’s Nihon Yamamura Glass share common goals for the ambitious initiative, involving flexibility, efficiency and sustainability, as John Wallis discovered. The full version of this article appears in the January/February issue *.

As the glass industry looks towards a more efficient future, new fuel sources and melting technologies may need to be considered to suit different regions. René Meuleman discusses some of the alternatives. The full version of this article appears in the January/February issue *.

According to John T Shaddox, Chief Commercial Officer at Ardagh Group, Glass – North America, the glass packaging manufacturer continues to gain market share in highly competitive US markets. The full version of this article appears in the January/February issue *.

The international glass decoration community came together last November at GlassPrint 2019 to discuss the latest trends and developments for decorating all types of glass. The full version of this article appears in the January/February issue *.

During the first Grenzebach Coating Competence Days, the company opened a specialist coating laboratory, which is geared to the requirements of glass coating. According to Dr Jens Ellrich, the lab can process glass widths of up to 3.4m and is equipped with state-of-the-art coating technology from strategic partners Solares Advanced Coatings (Belgium) and Advanced Energy Industries (USA). The full version of this article appears in the January/February issue *.

The second UK Suppliers Alliance Seminar attracted an impressive cross-section of people from the UK glass manufacturing community to Barnsley last November. The full version of this article appears in the January/February issue *.

Sebastien Donze discusses his role as Research & Development Director at leading tableware specialist Arc and as a member of the GlassTrend advisory board. The full version of this article appears in the January/February issue *.