2012

Date: September 13, 2012
Subject :Paul Award winner announced
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First winner of the SGT – Alastair Pilkington Award

Dr John C. Mauro of Corning has won the first SGT – Alastair Pilkington Early Career Award. Dr Mauro received the Award from Mrs Ros Christian, Sir Alastair’s daughter, and Mr Brian McMillan, immediate past president of the Society of Glass Technology, at the opening ceremony of the ESG (European Society of Glass Science and Technology) conference in Maastricht on Monday 4 June.  The winner also presented a lecture on his work during the conference programme. Read More>>>>

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Today, we are also announcing the SGT’s ‘Compendium of Glass Melting’. This is a unique, CD-based document that contains almost 100 papers, PowerPoint presentations and lecture materials. With over 60 authors, it represents more than 1,000 man-years of ‘hands-on’ experience and covers all aspects of glass melting science and practical, glassmaking technology.  It is targeted at glassmakers, furnace designers and specialist industry suppliers. We believe that this ‘Compendium’ will be of interest to all in the glassmaking community – and will be available to both members and non-members of the SGT.

<<click to purchase>>

Gerresheimer has acquired a majority shareholding in the Indian company Neutral Glass & Allied Industries. Having local production operations in the emerging markets is strategically significant for the company due to the rapid growth of the pharma sectors there. Gerresheimer already has five plants in South America, seven in China and representative offices in Moscow and Mumbai, providing it with a strong presence in the emerging markets. Now it also has a modern pharma glass production facility in India.
Neutral Glass is a leading manufacturer of pharmaceutical primary packaging made of glass based in Mumbai with a modern moulded glass plant in Kosamba (Gujarat Province, India). Neutral Glass produces pharmaceutical primary packaging products such as glass vials for liquid medications and infusions, as well as injection bottles. Gerresheimer has acquired a 70% stake in the company from the owner family, which has retained 30% of the shares.

A consortium of Bulgarian companies including glass maker Rubin have offered to acquire the Serbian glass factory from Paraćin from Srbijagas. New owners are to invest €22 million euros in the glass plant in the first year, as well as to take over the obligations towards banks and creditors of €10 million euros.
Rubin was the majority owner of the glass plant three years ago, but because of debts, primarily for gas, the glass plant was taken over by Srbijagas.

The Board of NSG Group has announced the appointment of Keiji Yoshikawa as president and CEO. This follows the decision by Craig Naylor to tender his resignation.
In his capacity as president and CEO, Keiji Yoshikawa assumes overall responsibility for overseeing the profitable operations and development of the NSG Group. The Group has also announced the appointment of Clemens Miller as executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO). As COO, Clemens Miller will take direct responsibility for the day-to-day management of all of the Group’s operations.
Mark Lyons continues in the role of chief financial officer (CFO).
NSG chairman Katsuji Fujimoto said, “Craig Naylor’s decision to tender his resignation reflected fundamental disagreements with the Board on company strategy. This is regrettable but we thank Craig for his efforts over the past two years and wish him well in the future. Our priority now is to concentrate on the future development of the Company”.

Beatson Clark is investing £10 million in furnace improvements and new equipment at its plant in Rotherham. The firm made a successful repair to its amber furnace in December 2011 and is planning a complete rebuild of its white flint furnace in July 2012.
New automatic inspection equipment is also being installed which will further improve the quality of the products and improve traceability. The company has already installed new vision-based inspection equipment with sidewall, base and top stress detection on four lines, and installation on the other four lines will be complete by early next year.
The M machines on all lines will be replaced with the latest Servo-driven multi-inspection machine which inspects the neck of the bottle, wall thickness and ovality of the glass. All this new equipment can read dot coding, which will enable additional automated inspection and improve traceability of the product. The company plans to add dot coding to all its products to take advantage of this facility.

Allied Glass Containers has recently been awarded the Best Bottle accolade at the inaugural World Whisky Design Awards for The Naked Grouse bottle manufactured for The Edrington Group.
Praised for being an excellent and original bottle and a great example of challenging existing whisky packaging, The Naked Grouse bottle was particularly applauded for its creative and effective use of embossing for the grouse, allowing the bottle to work without the need for a label.
The World Whiskies Design Awards recognise excellence in pack design and innovation and are judged by an international panel of design experts.

Corninghas reached a definitive agreement with BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) to acquire the majority of its Discovery Labware unit for approximately $730 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to be completed later this year, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals.
When complete, the acquisition will augment Corning’s global market access and enhance its broad portfolio of life sciences products in the areas of drug-discovery tools, bioprocess solutions, and laboratory research instruments. Corning will integrate four of the Discovery Labware unit’s main product platforms: plastic consumable labware (including tubes, pipettes, Petri dishes, tissue culture dishes, and flasks); liquid-handling products; cell-based assays and cell cultureware; and ADME research into the Corning Life Sciences business segment upon closing of the acquisition.
Discovery Labware has headquarters in Billerica, Mass., has operations in Massachusetts, North Carolina, and the United Kingdom, and extensive dealer networks in Asia, Europe and North America.

Molded Fiber Glass Construction Products (MFG) was chosen to provide fibre glass concrete forms that created the fab level for the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University of Albany.
According to MFG, the new building totals 280,000 square feet, and features a 50,000 square foot clean room, at the centre of the building. The new NanoFab Xtension will house “the Global 450” which includes Intel, IBM, Samsung, Global Foundries and TSMC. Their research will focus on the newest military applications, green/environmental technologies and innovations in the health care industries.
MFG explain that they provided 1410 waffle forms in the fall of 2011 to form the fab level. They worked closely with CECO Concrete Construction to create the design of the ceiling. Joe Kusiak, MFG Sales says he “has worked closely for many years with CECO Concrete Construction, they know exactly what we can do for them it just makes the whole project run much smoother.”

Kawneer’s AA®100 zone/mullion drained curtain walling, with 50 mm sightlines, has been used alongside terracotta rainscreen panels to re-clad 80 Mosley Street in St Peter’s Square, Manchester.
Robinson Architects were commissioned by developers Bilsdale Properties to redesign the five-storey building to bring it into the 21st century and revitalise the prominent site in the heart of the city’s commercial and financial district.
Approved specialist sub-contractor APiC installed the Kawneer curtain walling panels, onto which the terracotta tiles had already been fitted, over 12 months.
Robinson’s redesign comprised the retention, reinforcement and refurbishment of the existing primary concrete frame structure to allow for a complete facelift and recladding of the exterior, together with the addition of four storeys giving panoramic and unobstructed views across Manchester’s cityscape for clients in the finance, legal, asset management and property sectors.

PPG Industries’ fibre glass business presented a technical seminar on INNOFIBER specialty glass composition fibres during JEC Europe 2012 in Paris. A similar presentation was made in March during COMPOSITES 2012 in Las Vegas.
“Our presentation in Europe offered an opportunity for PPG to present the products that are part of our new specialty glass composition fiber portfolio, as well as to reinforce that we continue to offer the products our customers have valued and trusted for more than 60 years – our standard E-Glass reinforcements and yarns, which are core to the industry,” said Cheryl Richards, PPG global market development manager for energy and infrastructure markets.
“What’s exciting is that we now offer our customers alternatives to help them meet the changing demands of the market and provide options for their continued growth.”
PPG presented key benefits of the INNOFIBER specialty glass composition fibres as well as recent laboratory test results from PPG’s Shelby, NC, fibre glass research and development facility. The results, using rovings that paired INNOFIBER glass composition fibers and proprietary fiber glass sizing chemistry, displayed how these products exceed the corrosion-resistance and modulus-performance limits of standard E-Glass.

3B-the fibreglass company is launching a new and eco-responsible milled fibre powder grade developed from Advantex glass manufacturing by-products.
Designed to close the gap in terms of the cost-performance ratio, which exists between mineral fillers and standard glass reinforcements, 3B say the new milled fibre grade positively complements their portfolio of chopped strands.
3B explain that their MF 01 ER Milled Fibre powder grade has very good dry flow characteristics and dispersion, provides attractive high modulus, excellent dimensional stability and part shrinkage control and can be used in a diverse range of polymers for a variety of end-use applications, mainly in the electrical and electronic, automotive and consumer goods markets. 
Although designed primarily to reinforce both engineering thermoplastics and thermosets, 3B claim it may be of interest for a wide range of applications beyond the plastics industry, such as adhesives, paints, coatings and silicones.

NSG has acquired Saint-Gobain’s total stake in Flovetro. Flovetro, which operates one flat glass manufacturing float line in San Salvo, Italy, has been jointly held 50–50 by the two groups since 1976.

AGY has signed a long-term agreement with CTG/Taishan Fiberglass of Shandong Province, China to manufacture their new S-1 HM high performance glass rovings for wind energy turbine applications.
The rovings will be manufactured under license and sold globally by both companies. AGY will focus on the wind energy markets in the US and Europe, and CTG/Taishan Fiberglass will sell to the wind energy markets in the Asia Pacific and African regions.

PPG Industries’ coater at its Salem, Oregon glass plant is being upgraded to enable the manufacture of Solarphire® AR anti-reflective and 2XAR two-sided, anti-reflective glasses. The Salem plant will be expanded and workers added to accommodate increased production volume.
The Salem plant will manufacture Solarphire AR and Solarphire 2XAR glasses. Solarphire AR glass has PPG’s highly durable anti-reflective coating on one surface of a Solarphire PV glass substrate, and generates solar transmittance of 93·6% in a 3·2 mm thickness. Manufacturers of crystalline-silicon modules that replaced their units’ cover plates with Solarphire AR glass reported typical power output increases of up to seven watts.
Solarphire 2XAR glass features PPG’s anti-reflective coating on both sides of a Solarphire PV glass substrate. With solar transmittance of 96.3 percent, Solarphire 2XAR glass may help even more than Solarphire AR glass to make concentrated solar photovoltaic (CSP) modules more efficient.

Thanks to the combination of an inner liner made with Akulon Fuel Lock from DSM and the mechanical characteristics of HiPer-tex glass fibre from 3B, GASTANK Sweden, is now able to produce zero permeation cylinders that meet the very stringent ECE R110 regulation governing the use of Type IV high pressure compressed natural gas (CNG) cylinders for motor vehicles.
Professor Kurt Berglund, President GASTANK Sweden stated “The combination of both Akulon Fuel Lock and HiPer-tex glass fibre enables optimising the cost-benefit ratio of Type IV cylinders. HiPer-tex high performance fibres bridge the gap between heavy weight steel and high cost carbon fibre composites due to its ability to deliver a comprehensive range of properties economically whereas the newly developed cost effective Akulon Fuel Lock considerably reduces loss of gas through permeation.”
Berglund goes on to say “Well recognised independent consulting Powertech Labs did not detect any loss of gas via permeation in our newly developed Gastank 32, CNG tank with 32 l capacity. This unprecedented result makes our lightweight, zero permeation composite CNG tanks a benchmark within the composite cylinder manufacturing industry.”
According to 3B, CNG fuel systems equip approximately 2 million cars every year with as many as four tanks installed per vehicle. Some OEM’s offer CNG as an option, however many vehicles are retro-fitted and the use of CNG is expected to grow at 18% per year.

Owens Corning has pioneered a new solution to help kitchen appliance and food processing equipment manufacturers comply with impending European regulations on glass fibre used in materials for food and drinking water contact.
FoodContact glass fibre solution for reinforced plastic is designed for use in consumer appliance and food manufacturing products such as kitchen utensils and kitchenware; coffee machines; food preparation equipment; ingredient holding tanks; and drinking water systems. “Developing an understanding of the markets and regulations early has positioned us to help our customers reduce risk of disruption as they work to comply,” said Owens Corning Composite Solutions Business Director of Global Thermoplastics, Steve Zirkel.
According to Owens Corning, the reinforcements were developed to perform optimally in hightemperature resins like PPS and LCP as well as PPO, PA and polyester-based resins PBT and PET. It is available as glass fibre reinforcement in the form of a chopped strand for use in thermoplastic resins. It is the first product to market that meets the upcoming 2016 European Commission regulations for glass fibre sizing, chemical make-up and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
Owens Corning explain that the FoodContact glass fibre solution was developed with consideration for the supply chain to ensure a seamless transition from existing reinforcements to these new compliant materials. Owens Corning collaborated with its thermoplastics customers, custom moulders, design firms and product OEMs to fully understand the performance requirements this product needed to meet.

LM Wind Power’s 73.5 m blades became the first 70+ m blades to be installed when Alstom inaugurated the largest offshore wind turbine in the world on March 19 at Carnet in the Loire-Atlantique, France.
The impressive composite structures have been developed specifically for Alstom’s Haliade 150-6MW wind turbine in a close collaboration between the two companies to boost energy capture while keeping loads down. The innovative blade design has already been through several rounds of testing before being installed on the turbine in France.
The Haliade 150-6MW turbine has been EDF-EN/Dong Energy’s choice developed in response to a call for tenders launched by the French government that aims to install 3 GW of wind turbine power off French shores by 2015. Depending on the results of the tenders to be announced in April, Alstom and LM Wind Power plan to establish a blade manufacturing facility in Cherbourg with the capacity to produce up to 100 sets of 73·5 m blades a year. Production is planned to start in 2016.

The University of Leicester’s Chemistry Department has appointed a new glassblower.
Gayle Nicholson has succeeded glassblower Roy Batchen and provides a wide variety of services to the University including repairs, alterations and general maintenance of the University glassware.
Gayle has been in the glassblowing trade for 14 years and prides herself with being one of lucky few who enjoy their chosen career path. She was trained by William McCormack at Glasgow University who actively encouraged her to explore the creative side of glassblowing through regular projects, from figurines of dogs to a Viking long-boat.
Throughout her time in Glasgow, she was involved in the construction, repair and maintenance of the vacuum lines and associated apparatus, as well as being regularly appointed to provide bespoke glassware for influential outside companies such as The Glasgow School of Art. Gayle’s commissions included everything from glassware for experimental explosives testing through to duplicate Rennie MacKintosh items for period dramas with the BBC.
She then worked for Hull University and had an important role in rebuilding the university’s glassblowing service after the flood of 2007 destroyed the entire facility.

Allied Glass Containers has appointed Chris Palmer to the role of premium brands manager. With a remit to grow the company’s extra white flint Gicel Glass brand and develop Allied’s premium product portfolio, he will be based at Allied’s Knottingley facility. A seasoned glass industry professional, Chris who has worked within the Allied team for over fourteen years brings a wealth of experience to this new position.

Raw materials handling firm Mogensen announces that it has strengthened its sales team with the appointment of Nick Law as technical sales manager. He successfully managed technical sales organisations in the field of bulk materials handling in South Africa and Canada for over twenty years prior to his recent decision to return to the UK. His experience covers a wide range of technologies extending from conveyor systems to vibratory equipment. Companies of note, for which he worked, include the Bateman Group in South Africa followed by Wellman Engineering (Power Transmission) and Corrgan Technologies in Canada.

Morgan Thermal Ceramics’ Superwool® Plus™ high temperature thermal insulation has been independently tested and is proven to have a thermal conductivity up to 40% lower than comparable insulation products at 1000°C. As such, it is confirmed as being more energy efficient than its alternatives, allowing users to make significant energy cost savings and reduce their carbon footprint.
Superwool Plus blankets of density 128 kg/m3, 96 kg/m3, 80 kg/m3, were tested against competitor blankets of similar density by a French laboratory in accordance with the ASTM C201–93(2009) standard test method for thermal conductivity of refractories.
Results show that all the Superwool Plus blankets having lower thermal conductivities than competitor products. Consequently, customers can ‘drop a density’ of insulation and achieve the same high insulation performance when compared to competitor products, enabling users to make significant weight and cost savings.
The fibre insulation is simple to install and delivers excellent insulation in high temperature environments with a classification temperature of 1200°C. It has high tensile strength with good handling ability and does not tear easily.

Acwa Air’s fourth gas cleaning and energy recovery package is successfully helping the NSG Group plant at Ba Ria, Vung Tau Province, Vietnam to reduce its carbon footprint.
NSG operates a chemical vapour deposition (CVD) plant producing glass with a coating for use in environmentally friendly applications. The Ba Ria plant is the fourth in a series of contracts awarded to Acwa Air to prevent pollution from the CVD coating system and recover energy for use within the process.
The plant was designed & built in the UK by in a series of modules before being assembled in Vietnam using local labour under Acwa Air’s supervision.
The CVD plant emissions are significantly better than the local requirements and are achieving less than 10 mg/Nm3 particulate, 10 mg/Nm3 HCl and 1 mg/Nm3 HF and a second production line is being considered.
The coating process uses complex organic tin salts and a mixture of other chemicals to generate the required surface on the float glass. The vent from the vapour coating process and associated chemical storage vessels is passed to a thermal oxidiser where the organic tin salts are broken down at high temperature into oxides of tin and hydrogen chloride gas.
Hot gases are discharged from the thermal oxidiser and 75% of the available heat energy is recovered in a boiler, generating steam, which is used for process heating in the CVD system. Any surplus steam is passed to an air cooled condenser and the condensate is returned to the boiler.
The cooled flue gases, containing hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride, are reacted with sodium bicarbonate, injected into the gas stream from a storage facility, producing sodium halide salts and carbon dioxide. The reaction rates with sodium bicarbonate are extremely fast and completely transform the corrosive gases into innocuous salts.
Solids suspended in the flue gases – a mixture of sodium halide salts, excess sodium bicarbonate and metal oxides – are filtered from the process by a pulse-jet bag filter and discharged into sealed skips. These solids may be recycled to recover tin.
Cleaned gases are discharged to atmosphere through a free-standing chimney stack by an induced draught fan.

"Unbreakable and chemically resistant glass especially developed for pharmaceutical applications" was identified as an ideal goal for the future by one of the participants of the ICG roadmap workshop which took place on March 12, 2012 in Berlin.
Experts on glass surfaces and pharmaceuticals met for one day to develop their initial thoughts on a roadmap for future R&D in that field, it being perceived as one of the most important future glass applications. The invited experts came mainly from industry and had a broad range of competencies. This expert workshop continued a series of meetings organized by the ICG since 2008 on the “hot spots” in glass R&D; results from the previous meetings have been published recently in a booklet Making Glass Better: An ICG roadmap with a 25 year Glass R&D horizon, edited by Klaus Bange and Marion Weissenberger-Eibl.
To initiate and stimulate the discussion, each expert had a time slot of one hour, spilt into a 30 minute presentation followed by 30 minutes for discussion. The speakers were asked to include in their presentations clear but provocative statements of the types of activities that will be essential in their field. In particular a series of questions were formulated that included: “What result would be presented as an exceptional success between now and 2025?”, “What are the future key challenges (until 2025) in this specific field of expertise?”, “What topic is expected to become a real bottleneck for future developments?” and “What would be the key breakthrough and when is it likely to occur?
The meeting started with an overview of “Glass as primary packaging material: current issues, a personal perspective,” given by Georg Rössling, President of the PDA (Parenteral Drug Association) Europe. He presented an introduction to that field based on over 20 years experience and desribed the status quo from the perspective of the pharmaceutical industry. In the next talk the “Future needs for glass in the pharmaceutical industry: an end user’s perspective,” were described by Ronald G. Iacocca; in particular he addressed the future efforts needed to improve the properties of the glass itself.
The position of the glass converting industry was presented in different talks. Presentations on “How can we meet customer expectations on glass containers for pharmaceutical packaging?” by Volker Rupertus and “New topics in a pharmaceutical glass conversion facility” by Daniele Zuccato illustrated two facets of the various activities in the glass industry. The presentation on “Glass-drug interactions. Overview on delamination: its root cause, early prediction and future perspectives” by Emanuel Guadagnino
described the current scientific understanding of the interactions with the glass interface. More production relevant aspects were discussed in the talk “Surface modification and production process improvement to address future market requirement”, by Bruno Reuter. The last contribution was entitled “Case studies – glass container closure systems and interactions with formulations”, in which Wigand Weirich summarized the key learnings from the application of glasses from different sources.
In the closing discussion, the main results obtained during the day were summarized and the time frame needed to research adequately the different topics was considered. Better understanding of the interaction of the glass surface with pharmaceutical products, including delamination phenomena, adsorption effects and the influence of big molecules, was seen as short term projects (2015). Topics such as the variability of glass quality, extractable and leachable metal ions, and lubricants, were also seen as solvable in this timeframe. Longer term themes (2020) were considered to be: the fragility of glass which creates problems in handling and device usage, transport and also particle contamination but the effect of silicon oil and the de-activation of large molecules.
To initiate greater exchange between the glass and pharmaceutical communities, Volker Rupertus, member of the CTC of the ICG presented the main results of the workshop the next day at the PDA Parenteral Packaging Conference, which also took place in Berlin, Germany, but on 13 and 14 March 2012. An additional outcome of the workshop was that the participants recommended the ICG to create a TC on glasses for pharmacy.

Schott and the DGG held an international memorial colloquium in honor of Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Jürgen Petzoldt (1935–2011), who was a member of the Schott Board of Management from 1988 to 1996. This marked the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of the renowned researcher and entrepreneur.
Prof. Udo Ungeheuer, Chairman of the Board of Management of Schott, praised Petzoldt as the inventor of the glass-ceramic Zerodur, the standard material for the mirror substrates used in astronomical telescopes, and one of the fathers of Ceran glass-ceramic cooktop panels. “Jürgen Petzoldt is one of the outstanding personalities in our company’s history,” Ungeheuer noted. Petzoldt also made significant contributions toward building the Otto Schott Research Center in Mainz, one of the world’s leading glass research facilities, in 1989, and introducing the Otto Schott Research Award in 1991.
Dr Fabio Nicoletti, President of the International Commission on Glass, spoke about Petzoldt’s global acclaim in the field of glass. Prof. Helmut Schaeffer recalled his work on behalf of the German Society of Glass Technology (DGG) and the Research Association of the German Glass Melting Industry (HVG). Finally, Prof. Wolfgang Pannhorst gave the audience an internal look at what it meant to work with Petzoldt in research and development at Schott.
The second day of the colloquium that was attended by more than 100 guests was devoted to the sciences. Well known experts from Japan, the United States, Brazil and Germany, including SCHOTT researchers, held presentations on new insights and developments in the area of glass-ceramics and related materials. The speakers also focused on the practical application of their findings, an aspect that was always a special concern of Jürgen Petzoldt.
Glass artists across the globe are being given the chance to display their work and win one of three titles in the prestigious Warm Glass Prize 2012.
Glass fusing enthusiasts are being asked to design and make a piece of contemporary kiln glass, with the Artist’s Prize, Students Prize or Bullseye Glass Prize up for grabs.
The competition, run by the country’s leading art glass supplier, Warm Glass UK, allows artists to demonstrate their creative skills using glass. The deadline for entries is 20 March 2012 and the winners will be announced on 13 April 2012.
The Artist’s Prize is open to everyone and is decided by independent judges. The winner of this category will receive a selection of best-selling glass products, worth approximately £500, including tools, glass moulds and accessories.
The Student’s Prize is for those currently studying at college or university and is determined by a public vote. The winner will get £300 worth of education gift vouchers to be spent on classes from the 2012 Education Programme at Warm Glass UK.
Entries into the Bullseye Glass Prize must be made wholly from Bullseye Glass. The prize for this category has been donated by Oregon-based Bullseye Glass Company and is a contribution of up to $2100 towards the cost of a nine-day symposium run by Jane Bruce at Northlands Creative Glass on 5-13 July 2012.
www.warmglassprize.co.uk

A report published today by the Association of Cities and Regions for Recycling and Sustainable Resource Management (ACR+) for the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE)(1) says separated waste collection schemes should be widely supported if we are to build a circular economy for glass packaging. It stated that Europe needs to use its resources much more sparingly by recycling more, meaning we need higher collection rates and higher quality of collected glass. The report concludes that only glass bottles and jars collected separately will result in both a higher quantity and quality of post consumer glass (cullet) availability that can save resources to make new packaging.
Glass stands out as one of the best examples of the closed loop production model because it is one of the most effectively recycled materials in Europe (67% on average). This is not only because of its natural characteristics, it is 100% and infinitely recyclable, but also because of well established separate collection schemes. More can be done however and the study highlights some good practices. More recycled glass brings major benefits for the environment because when recycled glass is used, fewer raw materials are extracted, less waste is generated, less energy is used and less CO2 is emitted.
“Last year, more than 25 billionn bottles and jars were collected in Europe, while almost 100% of the glass collected is used, the vast majority of it well over 80% is actually recycled in a bottle-to-bottle production system supporting a circular economy,” observes Adeline Farrelly, FEVE Secretary General. “The better the quality of the glass collected the more we can recycle in a bottle to bottle system. This type of glass recycling is not only a local industry but also brings major economic and environmental benefits. We strongly support the findings of this timely study which underpins the importance given to recycling in the EU’s waste hierarchy.”
Based on a comprehensive assessment of European municipalities’ collection schemes, the ACR+ study identifies eight schemes including bottle banks with colour separation, as key drivers to glass recycling growth.
In separate collection systems the processed material is of better quality to meet the specifications necessary for the bottle-to-bottle production and is cost competitive in relation to the use of virgin raw materials. Other systems, like co-mingled collections can be either too costly or provide glass only suitable for low-grade applications (e.g. as aggregate). These applications are literally a waste; the material is lost forever from the circular economy.
“We need a more integrated approach with all the stakeholders along the chain, including citizens, and make more sustainable waste collection decisions in the future,” states Olivier De Clercq, Secretary General of ACR +. “We think it’s important for local authorities and collection organizations to know more about what happens to materials once they are collected. Clear technical guidelines and ad hoc support for proper glass collection would make recycling easier and even better performing.”
The study also recommends more and clearer communication to citizens about the benefits of glass collection and recycling in a bottle-to-bottle system, and the role they can play. Municipalities can work on this aspect too, as can industry. The European container glass manufacturers, through FEVE, support “Friends of Glass” a self-fed European consumer community of more than 30000 people promoting the consumer right to choose food and drinks in glass packaging. A number of tools are available on www.friendsofglass.com to increase consumer awareness about glass recycling and the environment.
1.   The study “Good practices in collection and closed-loop glass recycling in Europe’’ and its synopsis are available on http://www.acrplus.org and www.feve.org

In order to optimize solar cell production efficiency, to increase machine uptimes and to reduce manufacturing costs, one major goal is to detect defects such as contamination and unclean coating in the manufacturing process as early and as fast as possible. ISRA Vision Solarscan-Bevel inspects the cells after printing before firing. This enables manufacturers to clear compound spots on cell edges that could lead to short circuits in all following cells. The additional benefit: the reliable inspection alarms the maintenance staff and signalizes that aged meshes have to be exchanged.
Cell edges are the most critical areas for compound spots because the pressure exerted on the mesh is extremely high. ISRA Solar Vision provides the optimum solution for this problem with its new inspection system especially designed for the early detection of edge defects such as contamination or spots. Being applied in every production line right after printing and before the firing process, SOLARSCAN-Bevel enables the manufacturers to optimize their process and to avoid non-reparable defects. The huge advantage: material with short-circuits will not reach higher processing steps, hundreds of defective cells can be avoided and resources will be saved.
Bevel inspection for top-level cell qualities provides with this innovative optical inspection system the best-in-class solution for increased machine uptimes and improved production efficiency. The return on investment on the single system is under 4 months. This is due to fast installation / commissioning and immediately thereafter, recognition of all relevant defects. SOLARSCAN-Bevel is the unique solution for early detection of cell damages that can cause short-circuits. The new system guarantees improved cell qualities, less reclamations and increased yield with top-level cells.

“EinFormGlas” is a €2 million German Federal Government funded research project looking at developing a single stage forming process for containers. The project was inititated by Professor Heiko Hessenkemper of Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg and Dr. Ing. Michael Kellner of Heye International heads the project. The project was designed to identify solutions that make the glass tougher overall specifically while keeping surface damage to a minimum.
One key to the project's success is an aluminium-based lubricant invented by the Professor Hessenkemper. It is applied as a “wash” to the inside of the moulds into which the molten glass is blown to obtain its final shape. As soon as the glass comes into contact with the lubricant it's surface is enhanced. According to Hessenkemper this stage in the process increases bursting pressure resistance by about 50% and doubles chemical resistance.
Still missing is a moulding/forming machine appropriate for putting the single-stage process into practice. But this “will probably take another five to ten years” admits Kellner adding that the theoretical foundations for the complete process have now been laid. Developing the necessary processes and machinery would require some more time though. In his view success here will be determined by the way these new technologies are introduced onto the market. The aim should be a modular kit that can be integrated into existing production lines without major expense. At present, wall thicknesses of 1.1 millimetres are state of the art, explains Kellner who goes on to say: “Initially, we want to come down to 0·7 to 0·8 mm.”

South Korean cosmetics supplier PacificGlas will commission a new SORG VSM electric furnace in June 2012, at Janghang, near Seocheon City, South Korea. The furnace has a capacity of 20 tons per day.

NSG has announced its intention to mothball one of its three float lines in the UK.
Manufacturing will cease on the UK6 Float line at the Greengate site and the solar cutting operation at the Cowley Hill site by the end of April 2012. This will result in a reduction of 150 roles across the two sites, both based in St Helens, UK. Management and trade unions will start consultation on how to achieve this reduction. 
Following a review of demand and capacity in the supply of products for the touch panel market, NSG has also delayed its plans to build a float line in Vietnam to manufacture value added thin glass. A revised timetable for the project, originally announced in May 2011, will be determined in due course.
The decision follows an announcement in December 2011 of a delay in plans to build a line in Vietnam for the production of glass for the solar energy sector.

Heye International has appointed Dr Rainer Hauk as director sales and marketing. He succeeds Peter Kiewall, who is retiring in March 2012 after more than 45 years in the glass industry. Peter Kiewall was formerly holding positions as project manager and head of engineering at Heye, knowing many key players in the container glass business around the world. Dr Rainer Hauk has gained extensive experience in the glass industry, e.g. in the batch plant and cullet treatment sector, on a global level.

Zimbabwe’s sole glass manufacturer, Zimglass, is set to resume operations in April 2012 after the company secured funding to refurbish its furnaces. The Gweru-based firm shut down operations in September 2011, leaving 472 permanent employees and 100 contract workers stranded. Re-commissioning will result in the company operating at around 80 tonnes/day, barring any power disruptions.

AGC European subsidiary, AGC Glass Europe, and the German glass manufacturer, Interpane, have signed an agreement whereby AGC will take control of 51% of Interpane.
The two companies, which are both producers of float glass, will develop mutually complementary processing activities in terms of geographical scope and product specialties. Through the alliance with Interpane, AGC will gain an industrial presence, mainly in the German flat glass market, and aims to strengthen its position in glass coatings by offering new glass functions in building, solar and automotive applications.
Elsewhere in Europe AGC is to shut down its two oldest glass furnaces: one of four furnaces at the Moustier, Belgium plant and the furnace in the Salerno, Italy plant. The Moustier furnace has reached the end of its working life and will close in March 2012.
The Salerno plant has one production furnace, one laminated glass processing line and a distribution centre. Under the continuing effects of the financial crisis and the local overcapacity, it has been proposed to shut down the furnace at the end of February 2012. The plant will continue its processing and distribution activities.
AGC in North America plans to restart float G1, an idled production line at its Tennessee plant, USA and re-instate 100 jobs once the line becomes operational. The company shut down the production line in 2008 and laid-off approximately 250 people at the time.
For future growth in new display products, the AGC Group will enhance its development capability in line with new technology trends, and accelerate the market launch and sales expansion of display related materials including thin sheet glass substrates, cover glass and chassis glass. With regard to specialty glass for chemical strengthening, which is positioned as one of the key products in the future, the Group will explore application opportunities in and outside the display business, and develop products/expand applications for solar, auto, housing and various other markets where the Group has special strength.

Binani Industries has acquired a 100 per cent equity interest in 3B – The Fibreglass Company (‘3B’) from Platinum Equity.
Braj Binani Group say the acquisition forms part of their strategy to expand their footprint in the global fibreglass market. It further augments the Group’s technological and marketing capabilities in the fibreglass business.
Mr Braj Binani, Chairman, Binani Industries, said “The acquisition, costing us €275 million, will strengthen our group’s core operations at a global level. The group is present in fast-growth business segments, of which fibreglass is one. We are among one of the few groups globally that has a robust presence in this niche segment and we are working to accelerate our fibreglass operations further over the coming years. 3B is therefore a perfect match. We look forward to leveraging its expertise, strong R&D and excellent customer network.”
According to Binani Industries, this acquisition gives full ownership of 3B’s global operating capacity of 150,000 tonnes per annum (tpa). It also provides access to its established customers, world-class technologies, marketing network, vast marketing geographies and skilled manpower. It allows Binani Industries to consolidate its position in the global fibreglass market by increasing its product and customer base. The company expects to become a prominent supplier to industries such as automotive, wind energy, electrical, electronics, marine, infrastructure and transportation, primarily in Europe, where approximately 90 per cent of 3B’s customers are based.
With regards to technology, Binani Industries say they will benefit from 3B’s continuous product innovation and product development undertaken at its in-house R&D unit at Battice which they say will place them in a premium position in the global fibreglass market.
3B posted net sales of €159 million in 2010. It also plans to set up a greenfield expansion facility in Tunisia in 2013 that will raise its capacity to over 200,000 tpa.

PPG Industries’ flat glass business is expanding production capability at its Fresno, California, plant to accommodate the manufacture of SOLARPHIRE PV glass, an ultra low iron glass used to make components for the solar power industry.
PPG has introduced SUNGATE 600 glass, a passive, low emissivity glass that is designed to help homes retain solar heat, especially in cold, northern climates.
Sungate 600 glass features a pyrolitic coating developed specifically for application on the exposed room-side (No. 4) surface of an insulating glass unit (IGU). The coating is durable because it is chemically bonded to the glass while it is still molten, and its star-crystalline structure gives Sungate 600 glass a smooth surface that cleans more easily than most other pyrolitic coated glasses.
Placing Sungate 600 glass on the most interior surface of an IGU optimizes its ability to trap heat from the furnace and winter sun, which can keep living spaces warmer and reduce energy consumption during the coldest months of the year.

SCHOTT has appointed Christophe Muguet as vice president of it's global syringe business. Based in St. Gallen, Switzerland, Muguet leads the global syringe business activities of SCHOTT Pharmaceutical Packaging. His responsibilities include business development, product management, research and development and operations.

Dermifuse, special healing borate based glass fibre pads, has been developed by glass scientists Delbert Day and Steve Jung in conjunction with MoSci Corp., a Rolla, Missouri-based glass products company. The pads helped speed the healing of venous stasis ulcers in a majority of patients enrolled in a small human clinical test group of adults with diabetes.
Avalon Medical has arranged for the Dermifuse material to be classified as “veterinary medical device” and is now marketing the product under the Rediheal brand to the veterinary and animal care marketplace.
According to the Rediheal website, the company is making the product for various size animals (”Equine version now available”) and is also offering a putty-like version of the product that can be shaped for bone healing. Animal case studies include the successful efforts to heal injured green sea turtles at Jekyll Island, Georiga.

The University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory (SOML) has cast the second of seven 21 ton glass mirrors that will be shipped to Chile for installation in the Giant Magellan Telescope. When completed, GMT will be able to acquire images ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope.
The 8·4 m diameter mirrors are cast from borosilicate glass provided by Ohara. Glass chunks weighing 4–5 kg are inspected and carefully layed out over a ceramic mould.The glass is melted at 1165°C in a furnace that rotates at about 4 rpm. The spinning helps form the parabolic shape and reduces the amount of finishing needed later. The furnace will spin rapidly for four or five days, and then at a much slower rate as the mirror goes through a three month controlled cooling. After removal from the furnace, the mirror undergoes a rough grinding step and is polished to a finish that is within 25 nanometer of specifications.
The facility expects to cast one mirror per year to complete the project. Each mirror will be shipped to Chile after its finishing is completed.
SOML has other mirror fabrication projects underway including a multi-million dollar project to polish a 4·2 m wide mirror for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope in Hawaii. The mirror blank is being made by Schott in Mainz, Germany.

Wiegand-Glas has purchased a 100% interest in the Swiss Vitrum Holding, Hünenberg and its 100% owned subsidiary Thüringer Behälterglas, Schleusingen (TBG). In 2011 TBG was expecting a turnover of €46 million with its 217 employees. Together with Wiegand-Glas the annual turnover will amount to €250 million.
The investment strengthens Wiegand's position in the beer bottle market but we also provides entry into the market for preserves and jars. TBG melts and produces about 110,000 tons glass a year with two furnaces and five production lines. Schleusingen looks back to a long glass making tradition; in 1853 Adam Heinz and Daniel Wiegand founded the glass plant.

Using sustainable architecture principles and its own materials and technologies, Dow Corning has completed construction of two innovative, energy-efficient, high-performance facilities that will significantly improve the company’s ability to meet customer needs, as well as enhance its environmental, health and safety performance.
The first is a 32,000 m2 distribution center in Feluy, Belgium, that will allow Dow Corning to support future growth in the region, Belgium and Europe. The facility doubles the size of the current warehouse and was constructed in only 15 months.
The second is the Solar Energy Exploration & Development (SEED) center located in Seneffe, Belgium. The €9 million addition to Dow Corning’s global innovation capacity includes a Synthesis Technology Center and Solar Application Center and aims to advance fundamental research in new silicon-based materials and solar cell development.

Glass UK has announced the launch of EtaGlass a new electrically heated glass technology, which enables buildings to have far greater amounts of glass without increasing their energy use.
EtaGlass provides a simple room thermostat to control the temperature and can be specified in glass sizes of up to 6 m in height. “Etaglass is designed to increase the amount of radiant heat because the cold face of a window always produces a chilly downdraught that causes people to turn up the room thermostat and waste energy,” explains Glass UK’s Sales Director Warren Evans. “The use of EtaGlass means that property owners can reduce air temperature while saving energy and increasing their comfort levels. We put some electrical energy into the glass and this can save significant amounts on the overall cost of heating. Other manufacturers can only offer heated glass in maximum sizes of 1200mm. Oversized glass panel sizes usually mean larger cold spots around the glass. EtaGlass allows structures to be designed with very large glass areas whilst maintaining comfort levels.”

Thomas A. Schwartz, P.E., senior principal, president and head of the building technology group at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, has been elected vice chairman of the ASTM International board of directors for 2011–2012. 
 A member of ASTM International since since 1982, Schwartz served on the ASTM board of directors from 2006 to 2008 and in 2010. He currently works on Committees E06 on Performance of Buildings as well as C14 on Glass and Glass Products and E58 on Forensic Engineering. He is chairman of Subcommittee E06.55 on Exterior Building Wall Systems and has chaired several other E06 groups.
In addition to his ASTM work, Schwartz is a construction industry arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Boston Society of Civil Engineers. He was also a technical editor for Glass Digest for more than a decade.

Textile company Arvind has announced the formation of a joint venture with Germany-based PD Fiber Glass Group for the manufacture of glass fabrics in India, with an investment of Rs 80 crore over the next five years and including production capacity for 30,000 tonnes/year.

For more than 80 years, flat glass has been tempered for use as safety glass. Emhart Glass is the world’s first producer of glass container manufacturing equipment to have succeeded in giving packaging glass the properties of tempered flat glass. The new, patented tempered glass technology was developed on the in-house glass production line, dedicated exclusively to research and development, at the Emhart Glass Research Centre in the USA. The revolutionary process allows either a significant increase in resistance to breakage or a reduction in the weight of packaging glass. In practice, both these properties will be combined as required. The process is predestined to significantly reduce the weight of returnable bottles, while maintaining the same filling capacity. When tested by dropping onto a hard surface from a height of 1·5 m, only very few filled bottles break, while conventional ones generally shatter. Tempered glass containers can be recycled like normal packaging glass.
Implementing downstream of the glass forming machine, the innovative tempering process can be used independently of that unit. It consists of uniformly heating the glass containers to the tempering temperature of just below 700°C and then rapidly and evenly cooling the inside and outside surfaces of the glass containers in a quenching unit. A completely new testing and inspection process, covered by several patents, has been developed specifically for inspecting the tempered glass containers. Further marketing of the technology will depend on the success of industrialisation, now to be achieved in collaboration with Vetropack under commercial production conditions. Given the high capital intensity of equipment for manu­facturing glass containers, it is likely that the glass container industry will be cautious about implementing it. For this reason, Emhart Glass expects the market roll-out to take several years, with sales from this new technology consequently rising moderately.
Vetropack is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of glass packaging. The line for tempering glass containers will be installed at Vetropack’s Pöchlarn glassworks in Austria in late 2012 and subsequently be used in an industrial production process for the first time. This will require close collaboration between Emhart Glass and Vetropack specialists.

Solutia has launched EnerLogic® 70 low E window film as the newest addition to its window film series. Developed as part of tha company’s ongoing commitment to energy efficiency and sustainability, EnerLogic window film features a patent-pending, low E coating, which reduces heat loss of existing commercial and residential glazing by up to 42% – improving energy efficiency throughout the year. The film reflects 91% of radiant heat back into the building, a far superior performance to any other energy control or low E film on the market. Such outstanding
results are unprecedented in a film with a visible light transmission of 70%, the highest visible light transmission of any low E window film.
Both homeowners and occupants of commercial buildings will appreciate the natural light and clear view of this high performance film that helps to retain the appearance of the existing glazing. With an average installation time of just 15 minutes per window, increased comfort and energy savings can be achieved in a single afternoon. Installation is clean and minimally disruptive.

Schott North America has announced the production of chalcogenide glasses for infrared (IR) optical and fibre optic components used in IR lasers and sensing applications for the first time in the USA, at its Duryea, Pennsylvania facility. According to the company, the chalcogenide glass is suitable for defence and commercial security and sensing applications, such as night vision and thermal imaging.

The South Korea Fair Trade Commission has fined four producers of glass for cathode ray tubes 54·5 billion won ($47·6 million) for forming an international cartel to support CRT glass prices. This follows on from European Commission investigation of proce fixing in the EU.

Corning and Samsung Mobile Display have signed an agreement to establish a new equity venture for the manufacture of specialty glass substrates for the rapidly expanding organic light emitting diode (OLED) device market. The new business will be located in Korea.
Combining Corning’s Lotus™ glass substrate technology and Samsung Mobile Display’s OLED display expertise, this new entity will be positioned to provide product solutions for current and future OLED technologies, from handheld and IT devices to large TVs and beyond.
The newly formed entity will supply OLED backplane glass substrates for Samsung Mobile Display, as well as for the broader Korean market.

Mike Fallon, NSG executive director and president automotive worldwide, has decided to retire after 33 years service.
President and ceo Craig Naylor said, ‘Mike Fallon has made an outstanding contribution to the Group over a long and distinguished career and has successfully led the Automotive business since 2008, during a period of rapid change and volatility in the global automotive industry. A succession plan will be defined shortly, so as to allow for a smooth transition of responsibilities by the end of the current financial year and will be the subject of a further announcement in due course’.

International Commission on Glass
Twenty delegates from ICG’s Steering and Coordinating Technical Committees (CTC) gathered on the 10–11th November at the Stevanato Group Headquarters in Piombino Dese, Italy. The CTC meeting started with a technical session where the Committee chairs presented their year’s activities, highlighting successes, future research directions, areas of possible interaction with other Technical Committees (TCs), and any membership issues. The shorter Business session next morning was to support these activities whilst also guiding the proposed future directions. The Steering Committee met next and covered topics ranging from the development of a responsible financial approach in a challenging financial environment, to membership changes of the ICG.
CTC has recently developed a new and better balanced cluster structure. This new structure has worked well and the individual cluster coordinators reported positively (Basics – Prof R. Vacher; Applications – Prof R Vacher for Prof R Brow; Characterization – Dr V Rupertus; Glass Production – Prof R Beerkens; Education, History and Communications - Prof J M Parker). Operationally the Production Cluster has been the most difficult, because of the close relationship of its TCs with commercial interests and also the legislature; to solve this, joint meetings of different TCs are developing road maps for future activities in pre-competitive areas.
An exciting feature of the reports was the strong interactions between different TCs particularly wihtin the Basics, Characterization and Production Clusters. Linkages that cross cluster boundaries are also beginning and can be seminal but often only transitory.
The Round Robin approach to activities remains valuable. Chemical Durability and Analysis (TC02) has concluded Round Robin tests on Sb leach rates from low Fe glass, and analysis of low Fe limestones. A standard for fluorine analysis in high F optical glass under development and they are working on: durability at high humidities, arsenic release in Pharma ampoules, and high purity SiO2. The Basic Glass Science Committee (TC03) is assessing borosilicate glass structure using NMR, EXAFS, IR and thermodynamics, by generating a detailed map of the linkages between the various silicon and boron coordination polyhedra. Having successly used borate glasses for wound healing, TC04 on Bioglasses is developing screening methods for assessing bioactivity while the Nuclear and Hazardous Waste Committee (TC05) has generated an ASTM standard on liquidus temperature measurement in opaque systems. They next intend to study municipal wastes. TC06 (Glass Strength) is examining edge strength measurement.
Several committees work on glass surfaces and optical effects. The Optical Properties of Glass Committee (TC10) are characterizing low emissivity glasses, the optical effects of tin in the bath contact surface of Float Glass, and the effect of glass composition on optical properties. The Nanostructured Glass committee (TC16) is working on products for solar radiation control by enhanced UV & IR reflectivity and has an ongoing interest in self cleaning glasses. The Coatings on Glass Committee (TC24) is developing tests on the optical and electrical characteristics of coated glasses for devices.
The Environment Committee (TC13) assesses the impact of environmental legislation such as REACH and BREF BAT and next year celebrates its 25th Anniversary. TC14 on Gases in Glass is considering the formation temperature of bubbles in glass, and the residual gases in glass.
Modeling is used widely. TC21 (Modeling of Glass Melt Processes) aims to improve the quality and reliability of furnace computer models while A. Karadag of Sisecam, Turkey, was nominated to lead TC25 (Modeling of Glass Forming processes). TC27 Members (Atomistic Simulation) have been awarded a major US NSF grant to develop more sophisticated interatomic potentials and innovative glass structure modeling tools to cope with the different length and timescales needed in such models.
The publication of learned texts as reference material for the worldwide academic and industrial research community is another central activity. For example TC04 will shortly publish a text book on Bioglasses, Members of TC07 (Nucleation, Crystallization and Glass Ceramics) are writing a book on crystallization while TC26 (Structure and Vibrations) is planning a broadly based book on Collective Vibrational Modes in Glass. TC17 (Archaeometry of Glass) is to develop a new role that will include the production of a catalogue of glass related museums.
Similarly many committees are concerned with organization of conference sessions, workshops with a clear goal of roadmapping, and short courses for stimulating research activity among the next generation of researchers. Thus:
The Basic Glass Science Committee plans various short courses (e.g. at the 2013 ICG Congress),
TC07 (Nucleation, Crystallization & Glass Ceramics) will run an International Symposium on Glass Crystallisation, September 2012,
TC08 (Glass Transition) plans a third symposium on Glass and Entropy in 2012,
TC17 (Archaeometry) plans workshops on conservation of museum pieces
TC23 (Education & Training) will run its Summer School again in Montpellier 2012,
TC27 (Atomistic Simulation) plans a GOMD workshop for 2012,
The next ICG Annual Meeting (joint with DGG and ESG meetings) is in Maastricht and several committees will run sessions.
In 2011 TC22 (Structure-Property Relations) ran NCM11 in Paris, TC26 held an expert meeting on Structure and Vibrations in Montpellier and TC27 (Atomistic Simulation) arranged a GOMD workshop. TC18 (Glass Melting) was particularly active in arranging joint seminars involving several TCs to develop new technologies and define strategies.
TC01 (Information and Communications) has designed and published a new ICG web site (at www.icglass.org). This site gives more information on the technical committee structures, points of contact and mission statements. Planned ICG conferences, other activities and administrative structure are also explained.
Steering Committee oversees CTC, being responsible for the nomination of Technical Committee chairs and members to ICG Council for formal approval. A nomination from the Chinese Ceramic Society for Prof. Zhao Xiujian to join the CTC was accepted.
Steering Committee is also concerned with the candidature for ICG membership from national and other organizations. In 2011 Iran has applied as a new National Participating Organization, BV Glass and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai as new Associate Organizations, and CTIEC and AVIC SANXIN as new Associated Companies. These organizations will be invited to present themselves at the ICG Council during the 2012 Annual meeting in Maastricht. Steering also agreed that the Institut du Verre will continue to represent the Glass Community in France; the director of the Institut will send nominations of its representatives. B. McMillan, a member of the Steering Committee will prepare an answer for the President of the Glass Art Society to a proposal to cooperate through the organization of exhibitions alongside ICG meetings.
Another important activity is the seeking of candidate organizations to run the triennial congresses and intermediate annual conferences. Venues are agreed for 2012 (Maastricht), 2013 (Prague), 2014 (Italy) and 2016 (China) but applicants to run the 2015 Annual Meeting will be invited to present their candidature at the ICG Council meeting in Maastricht in June 2012.
ICG’s Honorary Treasurer, Prof Alicia Duran, gave the 2011 Financial Report. Earlier discussions had considered risk reduction by appropriate investment decisions and so Steering Committee approved the deposit of a sum into selected funds at the end of the year 2011. They also debated a definition of the minimum amount which should not be “touched”; this will form the theme of the next TelCo.
The Advisory Committee has interviewed industry representatives on “Questions regarding the role of ICG within the global glass industry”. Steering Committee agreed to organize a meeting devoted to the conclusions from this questionnaire. A roadmapping Pharma workshop is planned in Berlin, on 13th March 2012 with TC02, TC04 and TC19.

Apart from attending meetings, those present were also shown around the factory. Stevanato Group buy tubing from outside suppliers and convert it into ampoules, vials, cartridges and syringes for the pharmaceutical industry. The finished products must be made to tight dimensional tolerances and we saw some of the sophisticated digital camera technology used for dimensional and cosmetic quality control.
J. M. Parker