NSG Group recently restarted a float furnace in Vietnam to produce TCO (transparent conductive oxide) coated glass for solar panels. The previously dormant furnace was upgraded as part of a plan announced in May 2018 to expand production capacity of TCO glass to support the growing solar market.

The furnace is one of two lines at NSG Vietnam Glass Industries Ltd, located near Ho Chi Minh City. TCO glass production at VGI has been positioned to support a long-term supply agreement with First Solar, the world’s leading provider of comprehensive photovoltaic solar systems.

The reduction of both energy consumption and CO2 footprint while increasing production efficiency are key challenges for the glass industry.

With Glass Worldwide as preferred journal, from 31 March to 2 April 2020, the GlassTrend spring seminar will focus on how innovative raw materials and processing technologies can help the glass industry progress towards a more sustainable manufacturing process.

Triggering a virtuous decarbonisation cycle to maximise contributions to the climate challenge, Glass for Europe recently released its 2050 vision on ‘Flat glass in a climate-neutral Europe’. This comprehensive work highlights how the flat glass sector can maximise its contributions to Europe’s decarbonisation goals but also identifies how a virtuous decarbonisation cycle can be triggered on the journey towards climate neutrality.

Indian solar glass producer Gujarat Borosil Ltd recently selected EME to engineer a capacity increase for its existing, non-EME batch plant, from 180 to 460 tonnes/day for the batch and cullet supply of two furnaces in Bharuch.

Phase one involved an exchange of the existing dosing equipment and mixer during full operation load of the 180 tonnes/day furnace. Part of the engineering, completed in a second phase, involved the design and installation of a batch transport system for the new 230 tonnes/day furnace.

Glass Packaging Institute members in the USA are partnering to create a circular economy for high quality recycled glass in Northern Virginia. O-I Glass and Strategic Materials are teaming up to create strong markets for glass in the region through a glass recycling drop-off programme.

RHI Magnesita, global supplier of high grade refractory products, systems and solutions, has acquired Missouri Refractories Co Inc. MORCO is strategically located in the mid-south of the USA, a region that is rapidly growing in importance for RHI Magnesita. It produces over 400 monolithic mixes that serve a multitude of industries, including glass.

According to FEVE, production of glass packaging for food and beverages continues to grow in Europe. The increase of 2.0% in tonnes and 1.9% in units (representing an increase of 748 million units) recorded in the first half year 2019 corresponds to the industry’s best performance over the past four years. From 2016 to 2019, half year production increased by 3.5%. The pace of growth is especially positive when comparing to the previous year, where the increase was lower (1%).