The Toyo Glass research study, the "Research and Development of the Utilization of an Oxygen and Hydrogen Combustion Flame as the Heat Source for Melting Soda-Lime Glass” was selected by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (“NEDO”).

The use of oxygen–hydrogen combustion offers the potential for clean and energy efficient glass melting, as it generates only water vapour in the exhaust gas and operates at a higher flame temperature compared to conventional air combustion. Through this research study initiative, Toyo Glass aims to achieve a decarbonizing technology for “high-temperature heat demand”, which has posed challenges for achieving carbon neutrality due to the energy conversion hurdle.

The 38th Sisecam International Glass Conference will take place on 2-3 November 2023. The meeting will again be hybrid with presentations to a live audience at the Sheraton Grand, Istanbul as well as online. The theme for the 2023 edition is Collaborate2Innovate for a Sustainable Future.

Ardagh Glass Packaging–North America was awarded an Energy Star plant certification from the US Environmental Protection Agency for its glassmaking facility in Houston. This site demonstrated superior energy performance and performs within the top 25% of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA. The Houston facility manufactures approximately two million glass containers per day for the beer market.

Companies from glass machinery building, glass industry and the glazing trade can now apply to participate in glasstec 2024 – International Trade Fair for Glass Production, Processing and Products. The trade fair for the glass sector will be held at Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre from 22 to 25 October 2024. Experts from around the world can experience an unparalleled line-up of products and solutions along the entire value chain around the material that is glass. With its claim “WE ARE GLASS” glasstec underlines its pole position as the glass sector’s leading event – as a comprehensive information platform for investment decisions it focuses on hot topics such as the circular economy, digital technologies and decarbonisation in conferences, forums and meetings.

SCHOTT has succeeded in producing a test melt with 100% hydrogen in the laboratory and without using natural gas. The specialty glass experts from Mainz had already started the first industrial-scale tests with the participation of local partners late in 2022. In these tests, 35% hydrogen was added to a melting tank that had previously been operated exclusively with natural gas. The results showed that a change in melting technology away from using fossil fuels is indeed possible.

Oceania Glass was pleased to recently welcome Glassworks Aust. to the company’s floatline at Dandenong South, Victoria and display the art of architectural glass making in Australia.

Following the visit, Michael Kruger, General Manager at Glassworks Aust. commented. “The team from Glassworks Aust. were really appreciative of the tour of the float plant and found it very informative. The sheer-scale of the operation and the length of a campaign (over 20 years, non-stop) particularly stood out to everyone."

One of Architectural Thread’s latest projects is The Buttermarket in Redruth where they experimented with adopting shingles as part of a bespoke design feature for the key facade. Inspired by the shingle profiles on the local buildings in the area and with sustainability at the heart, the team explored materiality and tested elements of the design through a number of stages.

Stoelzle has developed EcoSecur, a groundbreaking process for the inner-surface treatment of type 2 pharma glass. This technique utilises a liquid treatment process that enables precise dosing customised to the size of each bottle.

A new type of glass promises to cut carbon footprints in half. LionGlass requires significantly less energy to produce and is much more damage resistant than standard soda–lime–silica glass. The Penn State University research team recently filed a patent application as a first step toward bringing the product to market.

“Our goal is to make glass manufacturing sustainable for the long term,” said Professor John Mauro the lead researcher. “LionGlass eliminates the use of carbon-containing batch materials and significantly lowers the melting temperature of glass.