Holding Slovenske Elektrarne, the lead partner in the North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley project, has signed the Clean Hydrogen Partnership Joint Undertaking a contract on the co-funding of the project involving €25 million in grants. This served as the official green light for the implementation of this transnational project as part of the Horizon Europe programme, which is aimed at establishing a dedicated hydrogen valley. The project will be implemented as of 1 September 2023, lasts 72 months and features seventeen pilot projects across all three partner territories.

Entries for the Glass Focus Awards are now being sought. The 2023 ceremony takes place on 16 November at the National Football Museum in Manchester. Entry is free and there are no restrictions in any of the categories and it is open to members and non-members of British Glass.

The categories for the 2023 awards are:

Design of the year – container

Design of the year – flat

Innovative solution

Health and safety action

Sustainable practice

Rising star

Strengthening business through people

Marketing impact

SME of the year

The NSG Group has appointed Kristian Chalmers to a newly created post of Global Strategic Commercial Manager in the Architectural Glass Strategic Business Unit. Based at the NSG Group’s European Technical Centre in Lancashire she will support the delivery of the group’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

SCHOTT Pharma is celebrating its first anniversary as a legally stand-alone company in the field of pharma drug containment solutions and delivery systems. The former pharma division of the SCHOTT Group has continued its profitable growth trajectory by supplying high-value solutions that enable pharma manufacturers to safely store and deliver life-saving drugs. In its first year the company has further enhanced its line of products, offering the broadest portfolio in the market and catering to the most important trends in the industry.

The award-winning design of the generation 6 Consol Solar Jar combines the timeless classic preserve jar with advanced solar technology to produce light in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Every hour of sunshine can be transformed into a sustainable hour of light, making it the most reasonable and accessible consumer solar light available to the African market.

The light is proudly handmade in South Africa in line with Fair Trade principles, providing employment and offering skills to previously unemployed individuals. More than that, it’s kind to the environment in the way it is produced too, with great care being taken to minimise CO2 emissions and the responsible sourcing of raw materials.

UK glass recycling company Recresco has successfully achieved operational carbon neutrality making it the first UK based glass recycling company to gain certification.

The accomplishment comes following a detailed process to establish the full carbon footprint of business operations, followed by a targeted campaign to identify suitable means for balancing that impact. Certification covers its Scope 1, 2 and operational Scope 3 emissions (water supply, waste generated, business travel, employees commuting emissions) in accordance with PAS 2060.

Ardagh Glass Packaging–South Africa (AGP) has launched ‘money4glass’, an initiative that uses BanQu’s web-based technology to improve effectiveness within the company’s supply chain for recycled glass in South Africa. This will not only help the company to track and monitor all trades which ultimately bring cullet to its own production facilities but will also help to put money in the pockets of the recyclers in a faster, safer, transparent and more efficient way.

In partnership with Schneider Electric, GlassTrend will stage an onsite seminar on ‘Smart Sustainable Glass Manufacturing’ for members on 17-18 October 2023 in Grenoble, France.

Decarbonisation is one of the key challenges of the glass industry in the transition to sustainable glass manufacturing. Next to the development and implementation of sustainable technologies, smart sensors, and process control are required to optimise the use of these technologies in view of CO2 footprint and energy efficiency.

GlassTrend is organising this in-person event to follow-up the previous edition that took place earlier this year. The event will be the opportunity to discuss various aspects of smart sustainable glass manufacturing including:

• sustainable fuels

Glass Packaging Institute President Scott DeFife released the following statement addressing a recent report from the Container Recycling Institute (CRI) showing no evidence that deposit return system (DRS) programs, i.e. bottle returns, adversely affect beverage sales.