Glass Futures requires larger site

The UK’s Glass Futures project requires a larger facility for its operations.

Its advisory board said that, such was the amount of interest in the project and the additional resources required to support operations, it was searching for an alternative to the Magna site.

The group said there had been plenty of interest from industry, academia and other interested group in the proposed glass centre of excellence.

As a result the scope of the concept has increased to accommodate the extra needs of the supply chain, from raw materials through to the manufacturing processes and to the final glass products.

The Glass Futures team had originally selected a former steelworks and now visitor attraction called Magna, in Rotherham, UK as the home of the project.

The scheme is the brainchild of the British Glass association and, alongside industry and academic partners including O-I, Guardian, Siemens and Swavorski, it plans to create a hub of excellence for the global glass industry.

The proposed site will contain a 30MT per day oxy-fired furnace, which will supply glass for the production of containers.

Other sectors of the industry, such as float, fibre and tableware will also be able to benefit from the flexibility of the furnace as a test bed for ancillary equipment.

There has been interest in R&D in special glass compositions for uses such as in medical and optical applications, which has resulted in the need for more laboratory facilities.

More resources are also likely to be required to support added- value operations, particularly for the float glass sector which may require additional space to develop fenestration, particularly coatings and laminates.

The advisory board said that facility design, equipment specifications and sourcing would continue, with the objective of commissioning the facility by Q4 2018.

It added that three new organisations had joined the advisory board: container glass manufacturer Encirc, furnace supplier TECO and Sheffield Hallam University.