Glass Futures, in the process of building the global centre of glass excellence in R&D, innovation and training, has announced significant progress in recent weeks, with the appointment of a new board of directors and an expansion of its team.

The board of directors comprises eight leading representatives from the global glass industry, supply chain and academia. Richard Katz, CEO of Glass Futures, commented: “We are delighted to welcome a board of such high calibre experts from various fields who are all passionate about the future of glass. This new board, in partnership with the knowhow of our growing team of full-time staff, together with the 15 strong advisory committee, will contribute significantly to Glass Futures’ progression and the achievement of our goals.”

Transferring from Glass Technology Services (GTS) with full support from GTS are Aston Fuller, Rob Ireson and Tracey Spaven. As General Manager, Mr Fuller has responsibility for the day-to-day running of Glass Futures alongside Richard Katz and as Innovation and Partnership Manager, Mr Ireson will be working to connect Glass Futures to the wider glass community. Ms Spaven joins as Office Administrator.

Glass Futures has already commenced work on in-depth investigations of sustainable alternative fuel sources and innovative scenarios to decarbonise the glass manufacturing process in line with ‘net zero’ targets as part of the £7.1 million Industrial Fuel Switching Procurement Contract announced in February. It is understood that Glass Futures has also submitted a formal application to the UK Government for a further £15 million to enable the development of its pilot plant to carry out scalable experimentation. Incorporating a 30 tons/day research furnace, it is anticipated that work will commence on the pilot plant before the end of 2020, with the intention to melt glass next year (dependent on possible disruption caused by the Coronavirus).

Furthermore, it is understood that Glass Futures is pleased to see the introduction of FEVE’s ‘Furnace of the Future’ initiative and believes the projects will be mutually beneficial and lead to increased collaboration across the glass manufacturing sector in Europe. www.glass-futures.org

Image: Members of the Glass Futures team including Rob Ireson (second from left) and Aston Fuller (far right).