GW: What are your main activities as Global Membership Manager at Glass Futures?

My role at Glass Futures as the face of membership is to lead the organisation’s governance framework and principles for the membership platform: accountability, transparency, fairness and responsibility.

It is my responsibility to ensure members are plugged into Glass Futures’ activity so they are informed and satisfied. Therefore it’s important that we update members on all upcoming/active projects, networking opportunities, and ensure they are connected to the academic landscape, and community projects. It’s also vital that Glass Futures aligns with industry needs for research and development (R&D), and so two-way communication is key and we pride ourselves on a collaborative approach to deliver innovation for our members and the global glass industry.

GW: What have your priorities been since starting the role and what have you found most rewarding?

When I started in this role two years ago, my main priority was to understand what our members needed from Glass Futures and how the membership function could deliver on the requirements in line with these expectations. By gaining vital feedback from members this became clearer over time, and over the past 12 months we have implemented more efficient processes internally to increase levels of collaboration, transparency, and our output of information to members.

Having the opportunity to step into this role has been challenging yet extremely rewarding. The people across our member consortium hold a wealth of knowledge and experience, so every day is a learning experience and something I enjoy.

The area or ‘key technology theme’ that intrigues me the most is circular economy; looking at economics and sustainability polices, practices and community awareness, and I will continue to focus on economical aspects with members. As such, I will tailor work packages focused on Decarbonisation Roadmaps and Economic Analysis, and hope this will prove useful across the member consortium.

GW: And Glass Futures has grown significantly during this period?

Glass Futures has experienced rapid growth and expansion over the past two years. Adding to the workforce has enabled us to deliver more projects, site trials and assessments, in-person meetings, online workshops and webinars – adding value to membership and building on our partnerships for effective collaborations.

GW: How would you summarise Glass Futures’ membership strategy?

Generally, the membership strategy aligns with Glass Futures’ vision: ‘a sustainable future, enabled by glass’ and our mission statement is how we deliver our vision ‘through our Global Centre of Excellence and our expertise we will support organisations’ sustainability journey, demonstrate disruptive technologies and generate new ideas that will have an impact all the way through the glass supply chain to the consumer.’

Businesses will be able to de-risk and validate the development of low-carbon melting and process technologies at an industrially relevant 30tpd scale. Our collaborative membership model creates opportunities to share risks, costs and pre-competitive knowledge.

We actively champion this by applying our core values at every opportunity: collaboration, challenge, sustainability, expert, trustworthy, innovation and above all else, safety. All organisations throughout the glass and foundation industries, supply chain and academia are welcome to approach us and join the collaboration so we can support their decarbonisation journey through R&D and innovation.

GW: Which sectors and/or regions have been prioritised to date for membership and what will be the focus moving forward?

Glass Futures is a global collaboration and therefore we haven’t prioritised any specific regions. We are here to help the glass industry decarbonise and the rapid growth in membership has been immense, but we have an open-door policy.

What we aim to do over the next year is further strengthen our relationships with members across the globe by attending events and hosting visits in new territories such as the USA, Australia and Asia, and we would like to collaborate with organisations in these locations who take an interest in what we do. If that’s you, then please get in touch!

GW: What role can members play in proceedings now and in the future?

All Glass Futures members are invited to be part of the Membership Council. The Council steers the direction of Glass Futures’ research by voting on project concepts as they arise. We also work independently with our members to highlight current decarbonisation challenges they face across manufacturing, processes, training and development, etc. so we can begin to provide solutions. Through our tiered membership structure, members receive the opportunity to participate in large grant-funded projects, collaborative membership projects or contracted R&D. At the heart of all membership levels is the core research projects that Glass Futures is endeavouring to provide for the whole glass industry and beyond. Higher tiered members can help to shape the road map and priorities as well as gain further access to individual collaborative initiatives facilitated by Glass Futures.

GW: What do you consider to be the main benefits of membership?

Glass Futures’ Global Centre of Excellence is a world-first open access, pilot scale research facility that enables technology leading to sustainable, lean manufacture of glass. This is of enormous benefit to our members on what might seem like quite a daunting road ahead as we race to net zero. Members can utilise our facility, allowing Glass Futures to take on the risk and drive fundamental research, testing and development for industrially-relevant 30tpd scale trials. Our pilot facility will accelerate innovation within global glass manufacturing through glass process experimentation, supporting new technologies, demonstrating new resource-efficient methods, processes and materials. By working collaboratively, we can achieve faster, better results than doing it alone.

GW: How important is it for the membership to be such an eclectic mix of industry and academia?

Operating a membership scheme with industry partners and academics, Glass Futures will provide an impact pathway for academic research whilst aligning the needs of industry with research and development activity.

We see significant knowledge exchange within our technical meetings and workshops, supporting projects that bridge the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) gap. It is reassuring to see that everyone within the consortium has the same long-term goal, of making glass the low-carbon material of choice.

GW: What are the plans for the membership to develop in the short, medium and long terms?

This year we will launch our Strategic membership tier. To mark the next phase of Glass Futures, the new membership level will operate on a credit-based system, much like other research and development centres. The Strategic membership means members can secure time on the pilot line for projects and training. In order to do this effectively, a new system that converts membership fees into credits will be implemented. This will not only give existing and new members more credits to influence project trials, but also has the potential to massively benefit organisations whose own strategic aims are led by decarbonisation and environmental commitment to shareholders and customers.

When Glass Futures first planned the Centre of Excellence, energy costs associated with operating the furnace, pilot line and the wider building were expected to be around £750k a year; this has now rocketed to close to £4m, reflecting the same major challenge our industrial partners face. Being a non-profit organisation, we offer full transparency of membership income and how this money is used to fund research.

I believe the membership platform will continue to grow and I personally look forward to welcoming organisations from new territories and supporting collaborations globally.

GW: To summarise, how important is a flourishing membership base for Glass Futures to achieve its goals?

Glass Futures was created by the glass industry, for the glass industry. It’s for this reason that the membership is an extremely valued and important approach toward achieving our goals. We are proud to see members continuing to commit and invest in R&D, lowering emissions and energy efficient processes, but to do this effectively, we must work together and this is why the Glass Futures membership is like no other.

The inclusion of other industry sectors promotes positive information exchange; it broadens and deepens our knowledge and understanding of much needed change, all the way through the supply chain to the consumer.

Image: Naomi Smith (inset) and member companies represented at the ground-breaking of the Glass Futures Centre of Excellence site in St Helens in February 2022 including Ardagh, British Glass, Encirc, Glass Sellers, GTS, Guardian and Pilkington, as well as Glass Worldwide (preferred media partner).