The flat glass sector shapes landscapes and the way people interact with spaces on a daily basis. Now, innovative and creative flat glass designers, manufacturers and architects are being invited to compete for a prestigious new award that recognises the importance of their work at the UK glass sector’s showcase of the year, Glass Focus.

Ardagh Group, Glass – North America has announced a long-term supply agreement with Oliver Winery to manufacture the majority of its wine bottles. Oliver Winery is the oldest and largest winery in Indiana and one of the largest in the USA, distributing award-winning wines to 27 states.

“Quality glass is an important part of our winemaking programme and we are excited to work with Ardagh in this area” said Dennis Dunham, VP Operations and Director of Winemaking.

ZIPPE Industrieanlagen GmbH recently commissioned a turnkey batch plant installation for AGC at the glassmaker’s second float line in Guaratingueta, Brazil. Apart from the batch plant, the contract included cullet return equipment, as well as steelwork.

In addition, the specialist German company was responsible for delivering advanced batch charging technology, supplying its float charger type EO 2525 TH equipment, with a charging capacity of 280 tonnes/day per machine. In total, four machines feed the 850 tonnes/day furnace.

Sisecam Flat Glass introduced its latest innovation at the Eurasia Glass Fair with the slogan ‘Extra Strong, Extra Performance’. Compared to conventional materials, the security performance of Sisecam Extra Strong Laminated Glass has been improved by combining two or more panels of glass with a stronger and more durable PVB interlayer under heat and pressure.

Germany’s SORG was responsible for designing the major furnace conversion recently commissioned at Heinz Glas Dzialdowo in Poland. An existing recuperative installation, with a melting capacity of 70 tonnes/day for cosmetics glass, has been replaced by a state-of-the-art end-fired furnace, with a melting capacity of 150 tonnes/day. This capacity is expandable up to 180 tonnes/day via the use of electric boosting.