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.

The 16th Otto Schott Research Award has been awarded to Professors Sabyasachi Sen and Josef Zwanziger for their achievements in fundamental and experimental glass research.

The award was presented to the two scientists on 13 October during a virtual ceremony by jury members Professor Tanguy Rouxel of the LARMAUR Applied Mechanics Laboratory in France, Professor Kathleen A Richardson of the University of Central Florida in the USA and Dr Matthias Müller, Vice President R&D at Schott.

When the international glass community comes together for glasstec VIRTUAL on 20-22 October, industry figureheads from leading glass trade associations will present a series of regional market reports during Glass Worldwide’s Glass Association Summit.

A packed programme of free to attend flat and hollow glass sessions will provide invaluable information, focusing on prevailing market conditions and how glassmakers have adapted operations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Presenters will also forecast the months ahead and join expert panel discussions.

Nathalie Delbreuve has been named Chief Financial Officer of the Verallia Group, where she will oversee the Finance and IT teams and joins the Group Executive Committee.

Ms Delbreuve began her career in 1996 with the audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Netherlands and then in Lyon.

In 2003, she joined the Norbert Dentressangle Group (now XPO Logistics), becoming a member of its Transport Division’s Executive Committee in 2005.

She continued her career in the Plastic Omnium Group from 2010, as Director of Group Consolidation and Management Control and then for the last five years as Chief Financial Officer Europe for the Intelligent Exterior Systems Division.

She joined the Verallia Group in February 2020 as Financial Control Director.

Independent sustainability rating platform EcoVadis has awarded its Gold certification for sustainability performance to Ardagh for the fifth year.

Gold certification is one of the highest levels of recognition from EcoVadis, only attained by the top 5% of companies assessed. Ardagh’s achievement, with an increased score, demonstrates the company’s dedication to continuously implementing social and environmental measures. 

One of Ardagh’s recent sustainability commitments is its signatory to the EU’s Clean Hydrogen Alliance, making Ardagh the first glass packaging supplier to do so.

The alliance aims to develop and deploy hydrogen technologies for commercial use to achieve the EU’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.