Operating from seven production sites in Austria, UK, France, Czech Republic, Poland and the USA, Stoelzle Glass Group draws on over 200 years’ of manufacturing experience to produce standard containers and tailor-made designs for customers worldwide, from concept to ready-to-use decorated bottle.
“At Stoelzle we all share a passion for glass. We are proud to manufacture bespoke high-quality packaging from this inert and permanent material, whilst investing significantly in R&D, state-of-the-art-technologies and expert staff. Quality, design and flexibility are our top priorities in all fields of business,” explains Georg Feith, CEO of the Stoelzle Glass Group.
New eco-friendly type 2 glass
With sustainability becoming increasingly important and the European Green deal setting very clear and ambitious goals for the glass industry, Stoelzle committed to focusing its R&D on eco-friendly, resource- and energy-saving techniques and materials. A major early result was the company’s innovative EcoSecur type 2 glass, which is mainly used for pharmaceutical injection and infusion vials. Developed completely by an internal expert team, the Stoelzle process enables exact and reliable dosing of the inner surface treatment from 6ml vials to 500ml bottles to deliver a superior glass quality whilst minimising environmental impact.
Recovered carbon decoration
The Stoelzle research team has successfully developed an innovative organic black recycled ink. The pigments of this sustainable colour, called ‘Recovered Carbon Black’, are made out of old tyres. This printing ink is exclusively offered by Stoelzle.
Furnace rebuilds
In line with the Group’s CSR roadmap, Stoelzle will also continue to renew and extend its furnaces. This was carried out at the company’s French production site in Masnières in 2020. still [currently] too This investment of over 20 million euros, which also includes two new state-of-the-art production lines and new cold end quality inspection machines, will enable the company to manufacture white flint and also its new high-quality EcoSecur type 2 glass with utmost flexibility. In Poland, at Stoelzle’s Czestochowa site, construction of a 20,000m2 logistics centre and warehouse is almost finished and a furnace rebuild is scheduled for 2022.
Modern mindset
Renouncing the image of ‘old fashioned’ glass production, Stoelzle has been heading towards industry 4.0 and IoT at all of its sites. Installation of a very efficient energy data management system is in process on a group level. More than 4,000 data points will be installed at all sites by the end of 2022 so that potential savings in the manufacturing process can be identified faster and more accurately via real-time monitoring.
The company’s main aim is to optimise energy use and further increase energy efficiency. The most important production parameters are shared with Stoelzle employees, along with energy consumption figures, to increase their awareness of this important topic.
In accordance with Greenhouse Gas Protocol, data relating to CO2 emissions will also be collected. As well as including direct emissions from the burning of gas and the melting of raw materials containing carbonate, these measurements will also cover emissions deriving from the upstream and downstream value chain. The result is a group-wide corporate carbon footprint that can be continuously monitored and reduced.