Ceramic and glass business news of the week for October 31, 2022

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

SCHOTT Pharma breaks ground for cutting-edge production in Hungary

SCHOTT Pharma hosted a groundbreaking event to mark the construction start of a new production hub for prefillable glass syringes in Lukácsháza, Hungary. The company plans to invest a double-digit million euro amount.

Wheaton Brasil invests in biogas for glass manufacturing

Perfume and cosmetics glass manufacturer Wheaton Brasil will use biogas as an energy source for its glass manufacturing processes to replace some natural gas consumption. Wheaton’s Ecoglass range will also see production of lightweight glass bottles.

France’s nuclear reactors malfunction as energy crisis bites

France is falling behind in its plans to return the country’s fleet of nuclear reactors to full power this winter after a rash of outages, raising fears that one of Europe’s key sources of electricity will not be ready to counter Russia’s squeeze on the continent’s energy supplies.

Poland chooses US to build its first nuclear power plant

Poland chose the U.S. government and Westinghouse Electric Corporation to build the country’s first nuclear power plant. The plant will be located in the Pomerania province near the Baltic Sea coast, though the exact location remains to be identified. Poland is planning to spend $40 billion to build two nuclear power plants with three reactors each.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Grupo Petrópolis and CNI launch glass circularity project

Grupo Petrópolis and the National Confederation of Industry (CNI) launched a project to improve and increase the use of glass throughout the supply chain. The Strategic Mission Glass Circularity project will allow companies to submit project proposals through the Innovation for Industry Platform by CNI.

Keppel, NUS, and NTU Singapore to develop utility-scale floating renewable energy system

Keppel Infrastructure, National University of Singapore, and Nanyang Technological University signed a memorandum of understanding for a joint-study on the technological and economic feasibility of developing a first-of-its-kind floating hybrid renewable energy system for operations in Singapore.

Saint-Gobain and TotalEnergies sign major renewable electricity supply agreement

Saint-Gobain signed a 10-year renewable electricity supply agreement with TotalEnergies for the purchase of solar power for its 145 industrial sites in North America (United States and Canada). This agreement is expected to offset Saint-Gobain’s North American CO₂ emissions from electricity by 210,000 metric tons per year, a reduction of around 33%.

NSF announces $10 million partnership with Micron

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a cross-sector partnership with Micron Technology, Inc. to develop solutions to address semiconductor manufacturing challenges and workforce shortages. NSF and Micron will each invest $5 million in support of research, education, infrastructure capacity building, and workforce development.

OTHER STORIES

BIA announces 2022 Brick in Architecture Awards call for entries

The Brick Industry Association opened entries for the international 2022 Brick in Architecture Awards, featuring a new category for thin brick projects. Entries are due by November 11.

CelSian to repeat refractory training course

CelSian will repeat its introductory course on refractories before closing its 2022 Academy season. The course, titled “Refractory Selection Maintenance and Related Defects,” will take place Nov. 15–16, 2022. The course can be attended in person at CelSian’s Academy in Eindhoven or online.

Abividro creates Brazilian glass recycling guide

Abividro, the Brazilian Association of Glass Industries, partnered with Anamma to develop a guide on glass recycling in Brazil. The guide aims to contribute to glass recycling by giving an overview of the Brazilian glass industry.

SINTX awarded multiyear DARPA contract to develop CMCs and high-temperature coatings

SINTX Technologies, Inc. announced the receipt of a three year Phase II award of $1.5 million issued by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop, design, and characterize thermal-environmental barrier coatings for functionally graded high-temperature ceramic matrix composites.

NSF confronts entrenched harassment at Antarctic facilities

The National Science Foundation is taking steps to address sexual assault and harassment at the Antarctic research facilities it supports, including launching a new office to support victims. This issue was the subject of an expansive report the agency released to the public in August.

MARKET TRENDS

The beginning of the end of publisher-society partner contracts

An article on The Scholarly Kitchen looks at Wiley’s newly announced division called Wiley Partner Solutions and what it means for societies that publish journals.

Borneo now has its first 3D-printed house

In the northern coastal part of Borneo, which is more urbanized than the rainforest covered center, the large concrete precasting company Sarawak Consolidated Industries Berhad recently revealed their first 3D-printed demo house in Sarawak.