The 2023 Society of Glass Technology Furnace Solutions conference will follow the theme “Living in the Glass Age.” The Melting and Technical Committee of the SGT is pleased to confirm that the meeting will again be held at the Totally Wicked Stadium, home of St Helens Rugby League Club on 7–8 June.

Attracting attendees from the UK, Europe and the around the world, this highly respected and successful conference offers an opportunity to highlight issues and opportunities as well as showcasing best practices and technologies for the glass industry as it moves towards a future without fossil fuels.

As part of the conference the organisers hope to offer a tour of the new Glass Futures building to see the facilities that will soon be available.

The Phoenix Award Committee has announced Mr Li Shenhua as the 50th recipient of the Phoenix Award and ‘Glass Person of the Year 2022’.

Mr Li was interviewed in Glass Worldwide in 2019: https://www.glassworldwide.co.uk/Articles/big-dreams-come-true-china-gua...

Li Shenhua is the founder of Huaxing Glass in 1978. Under his leadership, Huaxing has grown from a small glass factory into the largest group producing container glass in China with an annual production capacity of more than 3 million tons, or about 16% of the total output in the country. The group has 13 factories across China. Today, Huaxing has 34 glass furnaces and 167 production lines.

The Glass Manufacturing Industry Council (GMIC) has appointed Kerry Ward Executive Director Designee, to overlap with the tenure of Bob Lipetz, who retires at the end of 2022. Mr Ward comes to GMIC with decades of experience in association management, most recently with the American Library Association, participated at the 83rd Conference on Glass Problems (GPC) earlier this month.

Sisecam hosted leading representatives of the global glass industry at the 37th Sisecam International Glass Conference. The future and the endless development opportunities of glass were discussed at the hybrid conference, held in Istanbul on 17-18 November. The conference held with the theme of “Celebrating the International Year of Glass” attracted great attention from the industry.

Glass is the material UK consumers desires, 76% of them and 8 of 10 Europeans believe glass is a material for the future. The findings are revealed in a new independent survey of more than 4,000 consumers across 13 European countries, commissioned by the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) for Friends of Glass. The results shows the majority of consumers view glass as a packaging material that is healthy, safe and future proof.

As consumers across Europe do their best to cut back on packaging, glass is the only packaging material that they say they use more of in the last three years, by 8%, while bag-in-box, metal, and plastic have all seen drops of between 24-41%.

The Blackpool Promenade is renowned for its many sights and sounds. A seaside getaway for all ages, the promenade had been adorned with a giant 6m mirror ball showcasing the town’s love of partying and sparkling energy. Originally installed in 2002, it has faced many years of standing up to hard winds, damp conditions and corrosive salt spray and become tarnished.

Production is expected to start at the new Vetropack plant in Boffalora sopra Ticino near Milan in the second quarter of 2023. The high-tech site offers more flexibility in production with higher capacities and a focus on sustainable processes.

Wideye, the AGC Group scaleup specialising in solutions for self-driving vehicle ecosystems, will be at CES 2023 (Las Vegas, 5-8 January) where new glass innovations will be unveiled for the efficient, reliable and aesthetic integration of optical sensors.

VELUX Group and BayWa r.e. have launched a dual-site deal to address the roof window manufacturer's European operations with 100% renewable electricity by 2024. The Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) will drive the development of two new solar parks in Southern Spain, one close to Seville and the other in nearby Granada. The latter, called Alhendín solar park, includes BayWa r.e.’s first installation of innovative Agri-PV technology in Spain, which will allow for crops to grow in between the solar panels.