Plug Power, a provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions for the global green hydrogen economy, landed three 5MW electrolyzer projects with Ardagh Glass Limmared, Hydro Havrand and the APEX Group for the first-ever use of industrial-scale green hydrogen in glass manufacturing, aluminum recycling and steel manufacturing.

Dedicated to sustainable packaging solutions, Ardagh Glass Limmared will produce 2.1TPD of green hydrogen by the end of 2023, replacing a portion of the natural gas used while reducing overall carbon emissions at the plant. Ardagh will use hydroelectric power to generate hydrogen from Plug’s electrolyzer.

Ardagh Glass has begun construction of a hybrid furnace to enable the switch to renewable electricity at its glass production facility in Obernkirchen, Germany. The ‘NextGen’ furnace will lead to as much as 60% reduction in CO2 emissions.

The large-scale furnace will be the first of its kind that can run on 80% renewable electricity and 20% gas. It will use high levels of cullet to produce up to 350tpd of glass containers per day, primarily in amber glass, with the capability of making other colours. It is expected that the furnace will become operational and start to produce commercial glass containers later this year.

O-I has re-emphasised sustainable innovation in glass packaging at the Worldwide Distilled Spirits Conference on 9-11 May at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. Run by the Scottish Section of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling it is the world’s leading collective of scientific practitioners dedicated to the distilled spirits business.

At the conference, the company displayed recent innovations such as its Contemporary Collection. This is a range of three lightweight, premium spirits containers at just 600g, made in Scotland for distribution across Europe. Made from standard flint glass, the Contemporary Collection contains around 40% recycled content.

University of Colorado Boulder scientists have fabricated highly transparent aerogels from cellulose, an Earth-abundant biopolymer, by utilizing approaches such as colloidal self assembly and procedures compatible with roll-to-roll processing. The aerogels have visible-range light transmission of 97–99% (better than glass), haze of ~1% and thermal conductivity lower than that of still air. Highly transparent silanised cellulose aerogels (SiCellAs) with material characteristics adequate for glazing applications cab be sandwiched between glass panes may allow for windows with high resistance to heat flow.

Owens Corning is taking a major step in Europe toward achieving its goal of sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2030 with a ten year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with Shell Energy Europe.

Successful pandemic start-up Nutri Butter has chosen Beatson Clark as its supplier of glass packaging.

“We decided to launch our own brand of nut butters and we came up with an innovative nutri butter concept – a range of premium nut butters which have been fortified with additional natural ingredients to support consumer health, wellness and performance,” said Fatma Akalin-McGee, Managing Director of Natural Selection Foods. “We have grown from strength to strength at the most challenging times and taken nut butters to the next level with our Knotty’s and Nutri Butter brands, offering ground-breaking flavour combinations and innovation to the category.

AGC has decided to discontinue the production of LCD glass substrate products at the Kansai plant (Takasago Factory), located in Hyogo prefecture, Japan, by the end of 2023.

The revenues of LCD glass substrate products have been deteriorating since 2022 due to sluggish TV sales as a result of the disappearance of the stay-at-home demand brought about by the Covid pandemic, soaring raw materials and fuel costs, and rising manufacturing costs due to the appreciation of Asian currencies. As part of measures to improve the profitability of this business, the company is undertaking fundamental structural reform measures, including withdrawal from low-profit size glass substrates and consolidation of production lines, and this decision is part of those measures.

Glaston and the VELUX Group are collaborating on the Step Change Base Camp 2023 event at the Glass Performance Days (GPD) 2023 conference to promote sustainable innovation in the glass industry and address global environmental challenges.

Recognizing the urgent need for driving sustainable change within the building sector, Glaston and VELUX, have designed the Step Change Base Camp 2023 focusing on key topics such as energy efficiency, carbon-reduction commitments and sustainable innovative emerging technology solutions. The purpose is to develop and promote new innovations for the glass industry value chain and connect start-up and scale-up entrepreneurs with industry professionals worldwide to network and push for sustainable change.

Campari has celebrated the bond that has always existed between the brand and its hometown, Milan, with the launch of the new bottle design inspired by a shared history that began in 1860. The new bottle reflects the design that the city is known for. The direction of the lines, with a modern and direct cut, symbolize the journey of the Aperitivo ritual from Milano to the rest of the world, leading the eye to the city's name in the centre of the bottle. In addition, the dynamic movement and the tapering of the lines reflects the vitality and transformation over time that Milano and Campari have undergone together, from the past to the future, with an innovative and forward-thinking approach.