A consortium has been formed in France by ENGIE, Fives, Saverglass and Verescence to support the industrial glass sector in its efforts to decarbonise glass production by evaluating energy sources for a sustainable industrial process.

The VERCANE R&D programme aims to develop sustainable scenarios of energy transition by designing solutions based on decarbonised energy sources.

Different carbon neutral energy systems will be studied that could be compatible with the glass melting process, including hydrogen, bioresources and process electrification. Furthermore, VERCANE is exploring possibilities to adapt existing melting furnaces to new energy sources.

Stoelzle Glass Group has confirmed a furnace rebuild at its production site in Masniéres, northern France, an investment amounting to €20 million.

“Even in currently difficult times, it is our priority to keep on investing in all our sites” explains Etienne Gruyez, Président Directeur Général of Stoelzle Masnières Parfumerie.

“In France, the new, extended furnace will enable us to maintain our position as a centre of excellence for the manufacture of high end flacons and jars for the international perfumery and cosmetics industries.”

The glassmaker will not simply rebuild its flint furnace but will significantly increase its capacity.

This year’s Sisecam Glass Symposium will be held online on 9 November 2020. ‘Glass in the sustainable future: The pandemic and new ecosystem’ is the theme adopted for what will be the group’s 35th specialist meeting.

Interested delegates are invited to register online in advance for this fully virtual event, where the scientific programme features a series of distinguished international speakers. Full details can be found on the dedicated website.

www.camsempozyumu.com

Canada’s Vitrum Glass Group is the first company to earn Guardian Select Elite Fabrication certification for architectural glass fabricators in the USA and Canada.

This status has been achieved thanks to the fabrication specialist’s advanced capabilities and quality standards.

State-of-the-art processing equipment, practices and measuring devices help Vitrum Glass meet the Elite optical quality specification, a specification from Guardian Glass that requires stringent specification targets and processing controls are in place to help achieve the highest level of optical qualities of glass on a project.

Held from 20 to 22 October, glasstec VIRTUAL bridged the gap between now and the rescheduled glasstec in June 2021.

The event involved digital knowledge transfer, novel presentation possibilities for exhibitors and other virtual networking options for the international glass sector.

The extensive programme included the Glass Associations Summit, powered by Glass Worldwide, where industry figureheads from leading glass trade associations presented a series of regional market reports.

Flat and hollow glass sessions provided valuable information, focusing on prevailing market conditions and how glassmakers have adapted operations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A coated glass product designed by the NSG Group to help reduce the transmission of microbes via surfaces in shared spaces and public transport, is ready for launch after its antimicrobial properties were verified through independent third party testing.

The launch of Pilkington SaniTise follows the glassmaker’s research and development team fast tracking its research into antimicrobial coatings in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The work was supported by testing at leading UK universities.

Pilkington SaniTise is a transparent coated glass that is activated through UV radiation. When the glass is exposed to UV light, its antimicrobial activity is significantly increased compared to using uncoated glass.

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.