Partnerships

Global research and development network for the glass industry

International Partners in Glass Research (IPGR) is a global research organisation devoted to promoting glass science and technology through collaboration between the industry, colleges and universities, and public authorities. As a member of IPGR – which is chaired by Vetropack's CEO Johann Reiter – our company works with glass manufacturers, research institutes and universities across the globe to drive projects ahead and share specialist knowledge.

CO2-free melting furnace technology and sustainable glass bottle production

In the Zero CO2 project – supported by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action – IPGR is working to develop the melting process of the future in collaboration with the Chair of Glass and Glass-Ceramic and the Department for Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering at the Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen (RWTH). The goal: to reduce the emissions generated by the melting process for container glass to the minimum. Many laboratory experiments on this topic have already been conducted. The next step is to upscale the laboratory results to industrial process conditions. To achieve this, IPGR is constructing a pilot plant near RWTH Aachen that simulates the production process for container glass. Various experiments will be performed on this pilot plant starting in the second half of 2024. These include tests with different raw materials and process gases to open the process window for the melting process towards CO2-free melting.

Large-scale industrial trial for glass production without the addition of soda

In preparation for the Zero CO2 project, trials aimed at changing the raw material input were carried out on one of the Vetropack Group's melting furnaces. As part of this test programme – known as the 'No Soda Trials' – the raw material input mix was modified so that it was no longer necessary to add soda. Soda is one of the main sources of CO2 emissions in the mix of raw materials used in the process. In this largescale trial lasting 10 days, the melting behaviour of a mix of this type was investigated under industrial conditions. The formability of bottles from the soda-free melt was also proven successfully. As well as demonstrating the feasibility of this type of melt composition, the trial yielded valuable findings for the design of plant technology in the Zero CO2 project.