Pilkington UK, part of the NSG Group, is making a multi-million-pound investment in its Merseyside facilities as part of a government-backed project that will save 15,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year while securing the future of rolled glass manufacturing in the UK. Under the project, the company will move its Watson Street manufacturing operations to its Greengate site in St Helens.

On 17 April, the Duralex furnace at the glassworks in Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin resumed production following a five-month shutdown. The company shut down operations on 1 November 2022 after being hit by the full force of rising energy prices a direct consequence of the war in Ukraine. The management had decided to place the plant's furnace on standby for five months and to place staff on reduced duties. The decision was necessary and was also part of a collective energy-saving effort recommended by the French government.

During this period, Duralex maintained its commercial activities; inventory in hand made it possible to meet orders over the shut-down period.

The second edition of Bormioli Pharma's Sustainability Report reaffirmed the commitment to environmental and social responsibility, protecting the wellbeing of people and the environment, in line with its mission to 'Make health a positive practice, accessible to everyone, kind to the planet'. The report includes several new items, involving both the objectives to be achieved and the governance system through which the company intends to achieve an increasingly sustainable development path.

O-I Glass has broken ground for a state-of-the-art greenfield glass plant in Bowling Green, KY. The facility is the first O-I facility purpose-built to leverage the company’s MAGMA technology. The event, attended by O-I CEO, Andres Lopez, KY Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman, and a host of company and regional dignitaries, marked the beginning of a multi-phase investment of up to $240 million to enable the continued development of the company’s revolutionary MAGMA technology, while providing an unprecedented level of service to our customers and local market.

SCHOTT been awarded a multimillion-dollar contract from a leading defence contractor for infrared glass. The order was secured through the advocacy of Rep. Matt Cartwright, from Pennsylvania's eighth congressional district. The company’s Duryea, Pennsylvania facility will manufacture the specialty glass, as it does for other products that support the US Department of Defense (DoD).

Glass producer AGC Glass Europe has signed an electricity purchase agreement with Luminus for the supply of 67GWh of green electricity. This will help the company to make its existing production processes in Belgium even more sustainable. The contract extends the long-term cooperation between the two companies. Luminus has already erected a wind turbine at AGC's site in Seneffe, and the two companies also intend to build a wind turbine at AGC's sites in Mol and Zeebrugge.

With innovative glass packaging designs and product lightweighting efforts, Şişecam aims to protect the planet with less energy consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions in production and transfer, and to transform lives by offering sustainable products that meet the changing needs of the planet and society. Produced by Şişecam in line with this vision, Turkey’s lightest mineral water bottle has won the third prize in the Environment category at the İMSAD Investing in the Future Awards Competition.

In 2022, ZIPPE started the erection of the batch house for the Swiss glass group Vetropack in Boffalora. In the meantime the silos have been lifted in and the assembly of the equipment has been completed. Currently, test runs of the batch plant are in full progress.

The order was processed by ZIPPE on a turn-key basis. The batch plant is due to supply two melting furnaces. Two cullet return systems were also supplied by ZIPPE. All parties concerned are very pleased with the progress of the project and the plant can go into operation in the next few weeks.

www.zippe.de

The European Parliament has adopted the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System Directive (EU ETS) with 413 votes in favour to 167 against (57 abstentions). With a large majority of 487 votes in favour, it also passed the introduction of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which aims at supporting EU industries at risk of carbon leakage.

“The adoption of these texts does provide the flat glass industry with some more clarity on the regulatory environment it will operate in the next years.” said Bertrand Cazes, Secretary General of Glass for Europe. “The coming decade will be crucial for carbon reduction and sustainable glass manufacturing in Europe.”