Glass Futures

Glass Futures cold end inspection, lehr and roll plate machine are now installed! 👏🙌 🌟 Join our General Manager, Aston Fuller for an exclusive look at the ongoing developments at our Global Centre of Excellence in St Helens. Discover how we're pushing the boundaries of innovation and sustainability in the glass industry 👉 https://lnkd.in/e3Hr4SHw Stay tuned for our next update as we draw closer to the finish line! 🏁 #GlassFutures #Innovation #Sustainability #CentreOfExcellence

A special holiday greeting from all of us at Glass Futures! 🌟 We have been busy constructing our globally unique pilot line this year, but for fun, the team couldn't resist decorating our model pilot line to celebrate the festive season! 🎄 Thank you to all our members and supporters for a great year, and we look forward to working with you again next year when our pilot line will be operational. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 🎉

If you missed Mike Houghton and Aston Fuller's presentation at glasstec 2024, here's the rundown! Watch as Aston explains the collaboration with one of our founding members, Siemens and how digital technologies can help us reduce glassmaking emissions. 💡

Global flat glass giant, AGC Inc. joins Glass Futures!   Read the full story here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eBZgWYpq   The AGC Group have taken another significant step toward sustainable glass production by becoming a member of Glass Futures. AGC produces many products that play an essential role in maintaining the global environment, supporting society and is committed to being at the forefront of developing new glass products with better environmental performance.   Dr Terutaka Maehara, Leader of the Hot Process team at the AGC Innovative Technology Laboratories in Yokohama, Japan said: "AGC's glass business encompasses a wide range of products, including flat glass, display glass, and specialty glass, with manufacturing sites located around the world. Therefore, the requirements for achieving carbon neutrality vary depending on each business segment and each production site, necessitating the development and focus on various technologies. We believe that joining Glass Futures will be meaningful for this purpose." Pictured: Dr Terutaka Maehara (centre) of AGC with Glass Futures' Dave Fordham, Rob Ireson, Steve Cook and Aston Fuller.

Christmas is a time for giving 💝 To support the local community during this festive season, the team at Glass Futures took part in the St Helens Council's Christmas Gift Appeal 🎁🎄 Over 50 presents were donated by staff to support disadvantaged children and young people across the borough who are at risk of waking up on Christmas Day without a present. The team also participated in #ChristmasJumperDay again this year, donning their festive attire to raise £135 for Action for Children!

Our CEO, Justin Kelly was honoured at a University of Salford graduation ceremony last week for his commitment to helping businesses become more sustainable 💡 Justin was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for his diverse career in engineering, product, project and business management, marketing, strategy, sustainability and business development and has been a vocal advocate for technology, diversity, skills and sustainability, impacting not only the industrial sector but also broader societal and environmental landscapes. His leadership continues to inspire progress towards a more sustainable and innovative future. Justin said: “It’s very rewarding to have been given this recognition from the very University I graduated from 30 years ago. During my career I have been fortunate to contribute to organizations that champion sustainability and positive impact. I have seen how businesses can truly be a force for good." Read more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eje7puRb Full video by The University of Salford: https://lnkd.in/ebfADHcU

🚨 Thanks to Furnaces International for publishing an article diving into all things FISC in their latest (Dec) edition. Read about our fantastic partners Glass Futures, Lucideon, Henry Royce Institute, CPI, Materials Processing Institute and their reasons for joining #FISC, our themes and targets and more importantly the impact our projects are having in supporting the #FoundationIndustries to decarbonise. ⬇️ We'll be posting project case studies over the coming weeks and months but in the meantime please enjoy reading from P21 onwards. ⬇️ And a special thanks to Zahra Awan, Dave Fordham and Alanna Halsall for pulling all the partner content together.

Safety focus paves the way for spring furnace start-up and collaborative opportunities 🦺 Read the full story 👉 https://lnkd.in/dgAU5ris Following the ground-up construction of a unique R&D asset for the global glass industry, Glass Futures is entering a key stage in serving its international membership on the journey towards a fully decarbonised supply chain. To support this phase, a rigorous safety assessment programme is currently underway at the Global Centre of Excellence in St Helens, with safety in this industrial environment being reassessed from the foundations up. Every system and part of the process is being studied during an initiative that is expected to also benefit glassmaking members when deploying new technologies across their own facilities. “Providing a safe plant and focusing on members’ priorities is critical, and we are planning the most successful start-up schedule possible to deliver maximum value to the membership. To this end we currently believe the best window to fire-up is spring 2025, providing an extended opportunity for members to work with us on the pipeline of activities for next year and beyond, and to learn and share collaboratively as per our vision,” said Aston Fuller, General Manager at Glass Futures. Image courtesy of Siemens.

Glass Futures’ President discusses growth with Chancellor of the Exchequer 🎯 Richard Katz, President of Glass Futures, a new national asset set up to identify and deliver routes to industrial decarbonisation in the fight against climate change, joined politicians, business leaders and global figureheads at the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) conference in London on 25 November. Richard used the occasion to meet with the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and discuss the importance of continued rapid Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) funding for both Capex and Opex as a driver for growth. Having previously had the opportunity a number of years ago to brief Chancellor Reeves about Glass Futures’ plans to decarbonise glass manufacturing by demonstrating disruptive technologies and driving innovation and training to ultimately deliver productivity improvement, Richard reported a positive response to the latest discussions and appreciated the offer of follow-up meetings. Glass Futures' new 165,000 sq.ft Global Centre of Excellence in St Helens, with overall funding in the order of £75 million by national, regional and local government together with the industry, works across the glass and other foundation industries.  

Our low carbon glass, Pilkington Mirai™, named ‘New Product of the Year’ at the 2024 G Awards! Up against seven other products, Pilkington Mirai™ fought off stiff competition in its category, fully demonstrating the sector-leading innovation behind it. As the lowest carbon glass of its kind (verified to have 52% less embodied carbon when compared to standard float glass), the submission highlighted progress made in ground breaking trials of alternative low carbon fuels. Neil Syder, Managing Director of Pilkington UK, said: “We are delighted that Pilkington Mirai™ has been awarded ‘New Product of the Year’, and it’s very fitting that we won with a product that has been developed through so much collaboration between many different teams within the business and external partners. People have worked incredibly hard to drive the development of Pilkington Mirai™ forward together to deliver success, and this award shows that the industry recognises the contribution of this work.” G Awards 2025 Glass Futures #glass #glazing #fenestration #innovation #alternativefuels #recycling #renewglass #makechange #towardsasustainablefuture #pilkingtonuk #nsggroup #madeinuk #ukmade #madeinbritain