In order to meet growing market demand and reduce the environmental impact of its production processes in line with its carbon neutrality roadmap, AGC Glass Europe is launching its Low-Carbon Glass range, featuring a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

Eddie Neesom MBE, founder of Hunprenco, passed away on 7 December 2022 aged 90.

Having left school in 1947, Mr Neesom started a five-year apprenticeship with English Electric Co in Bradford, UK. He returned to work there following two years’ national military service with the Royal Engineers before moving to the steel industry. Initially on his own, Mr Neesom then founded Hunprenco in 1969, utilising his engineering and machining expertise to offer solutions to glassmakers that were struggling to source good quality plungers.

Mr Neesom instigated rapid and consistent growth at Hunprenco, which is today recognised as a leading plunger and cooler manufacturer for the international glass container industry.

Glass Futures has published its report for the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) which answers some of the fundamental questions surrounding low carbon fuels within the UK glass industry, with learnings applicable to the global industry.

The ‘Industrial Fuel Switching Competition: Phase 3’, saw Glass Futures working with industry, academia and its member organisations on a series of trials to advance sustainable fuel technology options:

Biofuels: The use of 100% liquid sustainable biofuels resulted in carbon savings of between 70-80% when compared with high carbon natural gas. The research proved the technical feasibility at NSG-Pilkington UK and Encirc.

Attractive growth projects, including new biologics orders in both High Value Solutions and Contract Manufacturing are fuelling Gerresheimer’s transformation into a solution provider and underlining its position as a strategic partner of choice for the global pharma and biotech industries. The company’s expertise and strong track record are enabling it to accelerate sustainable, profitable growth by consistently increasing the revenue share of biologics solutions and injectables. In particular “ready-to-fill” solutions in syringes and vials are driving growth in High Value Solutions while Medical Devices such as auto injection devices and pens are boosting growth in the area of Contract Manufacturing.

The first fully electric Volvo truck has arrived at AGC’s plant in Cuneo (Italy) marking the completion of an innovative smart logistics project. The Italian Lannutti Group, transport partner of AGC Glass Europe, has ordered 20 electric Volvo trucks to be used for transporting glass, helping AGC reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The vehicle has a power of 540kW (660hp) and is able to drive a distance of 300km with a single charge. Electric will replace the diesel truck currently in use for glass handling between the AGC plant in Cuneo and the Lannutti storage areas near the site. This daily fossil free transport will have a significant positive effects on the environment and in addition also eliminates the traditional noise impact of heavy goods vehicles driving.

Morley Glass has saved over 1,000tonne of post-consumer glass from going to landfill in just two years, and instead diverted it into the production of new glass in a scheme that has provided funding of more than £60,000 for environmental and community schemes in West Yorkshire.

In 2020, the company invested in reducing its process waste and providing a post-consumer glass recycling service to installers by commissioning machinery that could crush waste. This can be fed directly into the manufacture of new glass which not only reduces landfill waste cuts the volumes of virgin raw materials needed and saves energy as turning cullet into new glass requires less energy.

The Aktionsforum Glasverpackung has been honouring particularly innovative products packaged in glass since 2014. At the 2022 event, the now firmly established industry award was presented again at the "Trendtag Glas" in Düsseldorf.

3D-Micromac AG, the industry leader in laser micromachining and roll-to-roll laser systems for the semiconductor, photovoltaic, glass and display markets has entered into a joint-development partnership with SCHOTT to improve the processing performance of RealView high refractive index wafers used in manufacturing waveguides for next-generation augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) headsets.

Kyoto University and Nippon Electric Glass have agreed to establish an endowed chair in basic science of glass at Kyoto University from April 2023. The Nippon Electric Glass Basic Glass Research Trust will enable the university to maintain continuous basic glass research. This is the first time for Kyoto University to operate an endowed chair on an ongoing basis using the trust method.

The purpose of this chair is to further deepen Japan’s world-leading glass science and technology and to foster human resources who will become glass researchers and engineers by stably conducting various basic research aiming to discover new laws and principles in glass science.