Ceramic and glass business news of the week for September 18, 2023

PLANTS, CENTERS, AND FACILITIES

Romania is the first country in Europe to get this new nuclear energy technology

Romania will be the first country outside of the United States to have small modular nuclear reactor technology. A partnership between Romania and the U.S. brought this advanced nuclear technology to the country as part of a scheme called “Project Phoenix.” The reactors will replace old, coal-fired power stations.

Terra CO2 says its Texas factory will cut carbon and cost from cement

Colorado-based startup Terra CO2 Technology is building its first large-scale plant in Texas to turn common rocks into cement additives that can reduce cement’s hefty carbon footprint without raising costs. Asher Materials, a subsidiary of Texas-based asset management firm Instar Holdings, agreed to buy and operate the plant once it is built.

Global glass manufacturer sets up regional HQ in United Arab Emirates

Angola-based PureGlass set up its first regional production headquarters in the Sajaa Industrial Area in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Established in 2014, PureGlass has carved a niche for itself as a specialist in the production of tempered and laminated glass.

AGC study to convert CO₂ generated from glass production into methanol

AGC and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company will conduct a study on methanol made from CO₂ generated from AGC’s architectural glass production. The study targets commercialization of the produced methane by 2030 at the Kashima Plant in Japan.

ACQUISITIONS AND COLLABORATIONS

Bormioli Luigi completes merger with Bormioli Rocco

Luxury glassmaker Bormioli Luigi completed its merger with glass manufacturer Bormioli Rocco. Bormioli Luigi acquired Bormioli Rocco in 2017 as part of its long-term strategy.

Rockwell acquires Canadian robot maker Clearpath

Industrial automation firm Rockwell Automation, Inc. will acquire Canadian robot maker Clearpath Robotics Inc. The acquisition will be funded in part by the proceeds from Rockwell’s divestment of its interests in software firm PTC.

Greenbacker, which owns nearly 1 GW of solar, makes a deal to recycle it all

Power producer Greenbacker Energy Company announced an exclusive, long-term partnership with solar panel recycler SOLARCYCLE to recycle its decommissioned solar panels. SOLARCYCLE asserts that its technology allows for the extraction of 95% of the value from recycled panels.

Westinghouse and Energoatom pursuing deployment of AP300 small modular reactor

Westinghouse Electric Company and Energoatom, the state-owned nuclear utility of Ukraine, signed a memorandum of understanding for the development and deployment of the AP300 small modular reactor. The agreement establishes a joint working group to collaborate on areas such as contracting, licensing, and the local supply chain.

New consortium to make batteries for electric vehicles more sustainable

A consortium of the U.S.’s best battery scientists, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will accelerate the commercialization of a new family of battery cathode materials called “disordered rock salt” (DRX). The Consortium is focused on making DRX cathodes out of manganese or titanium.

New partnership to extract and reuse rare earth magnets from retired wind turbines

EMR, HyProMag, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Magnomatics, and the University of Birmingham formed a partnership called Re-Rewind that will focus on extracting rare earth magnets from end-of-life wind turbines and enabling their use in new turbines, both onshore and offshore.

OTHER STORIES

Whiskey bottle takes top prize in student glass packaging design competition

The Glass Packaging Institute, in partnership with Michigan State University School of Packaging, announced the winners of the 2023 Glass Packaging Design Competition. The first-place team’s concept design of a whiskey bottle features the iconic Detroit Tigers logo embossed into all four sides of the glass container.

Saint-Gobain becomes an ‘Official Supporter’ of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics

Saint-Gobain announced the signing of a partnership with the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee as “Official Supporter” for renovation and sustainable construction solutions.

With German, EU funding, Orion S.A. investing €12.8m in project for circular carbon black

Orion S.A., a global specialty chemicals producer, is investing €12.8 million—including €6.4 million in funding from the German government and the European Union—to further develop and demonstrate a climate-neutral process for producing carbon black from alternative carbon sources.

UN maps out decarbonization of construction sector

The construction sector must build less, use more sustainable materials, and clean up conventional ones to slash its emissions, according to a report published by the United Nations Environment Program and Yale Center for Ecosystems and Architecture.

MARKET TRENDS

Malaysia to ban export of rare earths to boost domestic industry

Malaysia will develop a policy to ban exports of rare earth raw materials to avoid exploitation and loss of resources, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said last week, making it the latest country to restrict shipments of key minerals.

Pacific alliance adopts moratorium on deep-sea mining, halting resurgent PNG project

A moratorium on deep-sea mining established by a group of Pacific island nations has struck a blow to the Solwara 1 project in Papua New Guinea. The Melanesian Spearhead Group signed the declaration, which places a moratorium within its member countries’ territorial water, on August 24.

A concrete crisis has the UK literally crumbling

Hundreds of schools, hospitals, and other public buildings made from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete in England have to close—the victims of quick fixes and decades of cost-cutting.

NEW PRODUCTS

Toshiba unveils silicon carbide MOSFET for PV inverters

Japanese electronics manufacturer Toshiba introduced a new metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor based on silicon carbide for applications in solar inverters and battery storage systems.

Panasonic’s PV glass with perovskite solar cells turns facades into energy sources

Panasonic Holdings Corporation developed prototype power-generating windows with perovskite solar cells that can convert a building’s facade into a renewable energy source. The windows will be installed in the newly constructed model house in the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Antora Energy launches ready-to-scale industrial decarbonization technology

Antora Energy launched its proven, ready-to-scale thermal battery. The company revealed that it has reached the highest temperature that has been demonstrated to date for thermal batteries at full scale, storing energy above 1,800°C.