Ardagh has won a Sustainability Award in the inaugural ‘Pre-Commercialised Innovation’ category for its method of producing remeltable briquettes from the fine particle glass rejected during the recycling process, allowing 100% of recycled glass to be remelted into new glass bottles and jars.

The rejected glass makes up 10% of glass collected for recycling and is currently unusable in glass manufacture because it contains loose organics and CSP (ceramic, stone and porcelain) which can cause blistering in new containers.

It is typically diverted to road aggregate or is lost to landfill and can never be recovered.

The NSG Group and University of Cambridge are collaborating on ground-breaking new glass applications, while using the latest technology to realise the future of manufacturing.

The Group, which owns Pilkington United Kingdom Limited, is currently working with the University’s Fluids in Advanced Manufacturing team (FIAM) to establish a way of printing conductive materials onto wide areas of curved glass surfaces.

Currently, conductive materials can only be effectively printed onto flat glass surfaces.

If successful, this innovation is set to enable the printing of metallic nano inks at high precision across curved glass, introducing new applications for glass in automotive and architectural sectors by increasing the potential functionality of glazing.

Encirc, a leading glass container manufacturer, has lit its new industrial furnace at its plant in Elton, Cheshire. The giant oven, which can process up to 900 tonnes of container glass per day, is the largest in the world according to the company.

It is expected that the major investment by Encirc’s parent company, Vidrala Group, will significantly boost its manufacturing capacity and safeguard the company’s existing 1,500 jobs as well as create new opportunities for decades to come.

The company currently produces around four billion sustainable glass containers every year.

Throughout COVID-19, Encirc’s business has remained undeterred, with Vidrala continually investing millions in clean fuel development, robotic production lines and its new furnace.

The shortlist for the annual Glass Focus awards has been announced. The awards, now in their seventh year, will take place this year virtually on 12 November and will again celebrate the achievements of the glass industry and its supply chain.

This year, eight awards are up for grabs with two new categories introduced – The Rising star award and Marketing impact – as well as the British Glass company of the year awarded to British Glass members who entered this year’s awards. Glass Worldwide is sponsoring the ‘Strengthening business through people’ award.

The Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation (CGIF) and The Glass Manufacturing Industry Council (GMIC), both located in Columbus, Ohio, are pleased to announce receipt of a $15,000 grant from the Air Products Foundation to foster innovation by the next generation of ceramic and glass professionals.

The CGIF will use its portion of the grant to expand the Foundation’s student outreach programs to attract, inspire, and train the next generation of ceramic and glass professionals.

The GMIC will use its portion to support college-age engineering students who wish to participate in the Virtual Conference on Glass Problems to be held online, October 26–30, 2020.

Glass Service (GS) has set the 16th International Seminar on Furnace Design – Operation and Process Simulation, for 22-23 September 2021 at the Hotel Horal mountain resort in Velke Karlovice, Czech Republic.

In conjunction with the seminar, on September 21, the ICG Technical Committee 15 & 21 Meeting and the GS Glass Furnace Model (GFM) User Meeting will be held.

It will be open to all wanting to learn more about Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence and hybrid melters, including hydrogen optimized by CFD simulation.

The 2021 Seminar will focus on presentations that provide solutions to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% or more by the year 2030, following the Paris Climate agreement.

O-I Glass and Germany’s Krones have signed a strategic collaboration agreement that aims to elevate glass by innovating together and to jointly create solutions for the growing glass market.

“For O-I, glass is the preferred packaging solution in a world that increasingly values health, premium products and the environment. Not only does it maintain the integrity of the products and protects the environment, as customers and consumers intend, but it also offers magnificent opportunities for establishing brands and implementing sustainable solutions,” explains Andres Lopez, President and CEO at O-I. “This agreement is the first step that O-I and Krones are taking together in order to offer clients completely integrated, end-to-end solutions in the future.”

Stoelzle Masnieres Parfumerie, renowned for high quality extra white flint glass packaging for the perfumery and cosmetic market, has greenlighted the construction of a new furnace that had been contracted before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Polish company Forglass is supplying its technology in designing, erecting and commissioning the new furnace, including the combustion system, electric boost, cooling system, steel structure and five complete forehearths, all manufactured in three Forglass facilities in Poland and ready for installation in France.

Having completed the design phase of the project, Forglass is set to begin the construction phase before the end of 2020.