On 25 April, the Glass for Europe secretariat visited the offices of Orion Laser Tech, a company that develops machinery with a focus on lasering of glass, for instance to create bird-friendly markings to reduce fatalities and protect biodiversity. If the scale of the problem remains mostly unknown due to limited data availability, it is
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On 16 April, Glass for Europe participated in a workshop on the “Extended Producer Responsibility in the Construction Sector” organised by the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE). A fruitful exchange with stakeholders and policymakers to assess the potential of this policy instrument for transitioning to a circular economy in the built environment. In view of the
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In addition to the five-part video series (available here), Glass for Europe is thrilled to unveil a two-pager Manifesto outlining its priorities and policy recommendations for the 2024-2029 mandate of the European institutions. With the European elections taking place in less than 70 days, from 6 to 9 June, Glass for Europe releases a new
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On 20 March 2024, Glass for Europe held its annual General Assembly in Brussels, bringing together senior executives and committee chairs from EU-based float manufacturers. This year’s General Assembly was marked by the welcome of a new member. Şişecam operates four float glass production lines in the EU, two in Italy and two in Bulgaria,
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On the Global Recycling Day (18 March), Glass for Europe launched a new webpage dedicated to flat glass recycling. It gathers all our resources (position papers, videos, news…) on this key issue, including the newly released updated version of its paper on the recycling of end-of-life building glass. Recycling is a priority of flat glass manufacturers
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Recently, the European Commission (EC) published a communication on Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership to outline its strategy for “advanced material” research, innovation, and production in the EU. The EC outlines its intention to keep the current EU leadership in this sector, reach strategic autonomy regarding advanced materials, and attain Green Deal objectives with the
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On March 12, the European Parliament adopted its position on the revision of the Weights & Dimensions Directive. The text provisions to enable better-harmonised rules for cross-border transport of up to 44 tonnes is an excellent step to cut some CO2 emissions and organisational burdens in the flat glass sector. Member States that elevate the
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The plenary session of the European Parliament has voted in favour of the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, one of the final texts of the ‘Fit for 55’ package. Once formally adopted at ministerial level, implementation can begin. On 12 March, the European Parliament has adopted the political agreement on the revision of the
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Glass for Europe has published a Q&A on the role of glass in sustainable buildings. Structured around three main questions, the Q&A helps to approach the issue of carbon from different angles. As the operational carbon of buildings (generated by the heating and cooling systems) is increasingly understood and addressed in policies, the focus is
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Recycling is very high on the agenda of Europe’s flat glass manufacturers, and they are calling on policymakers to follow suit. The new video of Glass for Europe’ 2024-2029 manifesto introduces the conditions to create a closed-loop recycling system which can contribute to save raw materials and reduce carbon emissions in glass production. Flat glass
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The European Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055 of 25 September 2023 ‘restricting synthetic polymer microparticles on their own or intentionally added to mixtures’ entered into force in October 2023. Its purpose is to ban the placing on the market of mixtures containing synthetic polymer microplastics. The ban from placing on the market does not apply to
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On 20 February, the EU Industry Summit took place in Antwerp in presence of over 75 industry top executives, representatives of nearly 20 different manufacturing sectors, European trade unions as well as European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo. The flat glass sector participated to this event with
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