John T Brown, Cho Tak Wong, John Gallo, James O’Callaghan, Juan Rafael Silva Garcia, Surasak Decharin, Lino Tagliapietra and now Oliver Wiegand are members of an exclusive club. They are among the 48 recipients of the prestigious annual Phoenix Award, each having made a significant contribution to the glass industry during their careers.

It is not unusual for past winners to attend subsequent events but for so many industry icons to travel from as far afield as China, Mexico, Thailand and the USA is testament to the prestige associated with this industry accolade and the important work undertaken by the 2018 recipient.

This year’s banquet was staged 
in the picturesque university city of Konstanz, located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. It was the preferred location of the 2018 Glass Person of the Year, Oliver Wiegand.

Glass in his blood

With the history of the Wiegand family and its glass roots dating back 450 years, it is reasonable to suggest that Oliver Wiegand has glass in his blood. He grew up in the family glass packaging business, surrounded by glass production and supported, guided and influenced by three generations of leading European glassmakers who understood the values of using modern technology, while keeping family values and traditions over many years of growth within the Wiegand-Glas Group. Today, Oliver Wiegand is a fourth generation family representative and joint Managing Director of Wiegand-Glas with his cousin, Nikolaus Wiegand; see Glass Worldwide July/August 2018 for a detailed, exclusive interview.

Committee members selected Mr Wiegand as the 2018 Phoenix Award recipient in recognition of his forward thinking and drive to embrace new technologies that allow his four modern glass container plants to increase production, while at the same time manufacturing cleaner, more environmentally-friendly glass. His openness to work with suppliers in developing and all-importantly, testing the latest technology in real-time glass production is one of the reasons why he is so well-respected within the industry.

His vision not only to improve his own glass production plants via the latest technologies but also to share these developments through his commitment to IPGR (International Partners in Glass Research), of which he has been Chairman for many years and still holds the position of Vice Chairman, makes Oliver Wiegand a driver and a leader for the entire glass container industry. He represents the German glass industry on the board of the FEVE and at BV Glas, he is Vice President and Chariman of the Fachgruppe Behälterglas.

The Phoenix Committee recognised Mr Wiegand’s personal commitment to driving forward glass recycling, to drive down the costs of new glass containers to protect the world’s limited natural resources and make glass a greener, more environmentally-friendly packaging material.

Under Oliver Wiegand’s joint leadership, Wiegand-Glas has become a world leader in glass recycling. The group now operates two recycling facilities in Germany; the first was installed in the early 1970s and every Wiegand-Glas container now features between 80% and 95% of cullet generated at its own facilities.