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"Glass industry"
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Ecological sustainability assessment of building glass industry in China based on the point of view of raw material emergy and chemical composition
Severe environmental destruction is being driven by excessive resource consumption in the industrial production process. Therefore, there is a necessity to evaluate the sustainability of the production system. In this study, the emergy method has been adopted to assess the flat building glass production in China based on raw material and chemical composition. A series of problems including key contributors, primary sustainable indexes, unit emergy value (UEVs), sensitivity ratios, and waste impact was studied. The results illustrate that (1) the nonrenewable resources and imported resources showed the dominant impacts. (2) Silica sand and sandstone were the foremost items for the raw material angle emergy. (3) Excessive EIR, serious ELR, and tiny ESI were the main contributors to the unsustainability of the evaluated system. (4) Four UEVs were revealed, which are 1.69E + 12sej/kg, 1.80E + 12sej/kg, 1.60E + 12sej/kg, and 1.71E + 12sej/kg, respectively. (5) The nonrenewable resources showed the biggest fluctuation (7.09%), followed by imported resources (1.62%) in view of the raw material perspective; for the chemical composition, the nonrenewable resources were 7.15%, and imported resources were 1.49%, respectively. (6) Waste gas emissions were found as the major emergy contributor to the economic loss. Furthermore, positive solutions were discussed for improving the sustainability of glass production, including the proportion increase of renewable energy, recycling material replacement, and promotion of energy-saving equipment.
Journal Article
The finest building in America : the New York Crystal Palace, 1853-1858
\"Built in 1853 in New York's Bryant Park and immediately pronounced the most beautiful structure in America, the Crystal Palace was intended not simply to emulate but rival the famous Victorian landmark in London's Hyde Park. As with its English counterpart, however, its beauty was ephemeral. It caught fire, and on October 5, 1858, \"great waves of lurid light\" overtook spectators and those rushing to save it. Within thirty minutes, the beloved dome was nothing but a heap of smoldering debris. In his latest book, Edwin G. Burrows, winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for History and co-author of GOTHAM: A History of New York to 1898, offers a memorable and elegiac look at the Crystal Palace. While it didn't match in dimension Robert Paxton's London original--the scale of which was truly colossal--the New York version became a beloved landmark almost from the instant of its creation. Centerpiece of the 1853 World's Fair, it was home to numerous exhibitions and became a showplace for displaying the growing industrial might of the nation. Walt Whitman rhapsodized about it as \"Earth's modern wonder, History's Seven outstripping.\" Its sudden loss provoked intense mourning-matched only perhaps by the razing of the old Penn Station a century later-and then gradually it slipped from memory. The Finest Building in America will evoke the Crystal Palace's life and times, replete with beautiful period images. The first book-length account of the building's short but glorious life, Burrows book aims to restore it in the minds and hearts of New Yorkers and New York aficionados and fans everywhere\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Sources and Markets of Limestone Flour in Poland
Limestone flour is used in a variety of industrial sectors such as power and heat generation, glass-making, paper-making, the construction industry and construction materials manufacturing, the production of agriculture, plastics and rubber goods, as well as coal mining, and environmental protection. This paper aims to characterize and interpret the limestone flour supply and demand trends in the main applications in Poland in the last decade. In order to track the changes of domestic consumption for this commodity, its major users have been surveyed along with analyses of data from the Statistics Poland (GUS). The results showed that during 2009–2018 the coal-fired power plants became the biggest customer of limestone flour utilized as a sorbent in the wet flue gas desulfurization method (FGD). This method has been implemented in the vast majority of Polish power plants. It is estimated that in the last decade the total annual production capacity of limestone flour at the milling plants in Poland increased by 1.5 million tons, to around 6.0 million tons. In the forthcoming years, this is expected to continue to increase despite EU restrictions on fossil fuel use (especially hard coal and lignite). Other promising areas of future growth are: for limestone flour of medium quality—the construction materials manufacturing and the construction industry itself, for limestone flour of the highest quality—the glass industry, while for fine-grained limestone flour of high-quality—the plastics and rubber industries. In terms of resource security, it is worth noting that Poland is a country rich in limestone deposits. However, only some of them, that is, limestone rock varieties of the Jurassic and Devonian ages from the Kielce vicinity in central Poland are suitable for the production of high-quality limestone flour for the needs of the mentioned industries. The paper analyses the potential of the limestone flour production from the available limestone rock deposits with respect to the current and future needs of the domestic market in Poland.
Journal Article
Measuring sustainability impacts through SROI: a case study of the Italian glass industry’s contribution to the SDGs
PurposeThis study investigates the contribution of the Italian glass industry to sustainability, with a focus on its alignment with selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDGs 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13.Design/methodology/approachThe research applies the Social Return on Investment (SROI) methodology to evaluate the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the Italian glass supply chain from 2022 to 2050, with insights gained through extensive stakeholder engagement.FindingsThe results reveal a positive SROI ratio of 2.53, indicating substantial value creation across multiple dimensions. Social impacts emerge as the most significant, representing 44.2% of total value generated, primarily through employment creation. Economic impacts account for 39.5%, driven by energy and material savings, while environmental impacts contribute 16.3% through decarbonisation efforts and improved resource efficiency. The study demonstrates how the glass industry’s sustainability initiatives align with and contribute to multiple SDGs while also highlighting the challenges in balancing environmental imperatives with socioeconomic outcomes.Practical implicationsThe findings provide valuable insights for industry practitioners and policymakers on measuring and managing sustainability impacts in energy-intensive sectors, offering a replicable framework for evaluating progress towards SDG targets.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the limited literature on sustainability accounting in energy-intensive sectors by providing a comprehensive assessment of the Italian glass industry’s contribution to SDGs. It offers a novel application of SROI methodology to evaluate long-term sustainability impacts while demonstrating how traditional industries can transform their practices to support SDGs.
Journal Article
Envisioning Industry 4.0 to 5.0: the Brazilian glass workplace
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the impacts of Industry 4.0/5.0 (I4.0/5.0) on the glass manufacturing workplace. Specifically, it studied the workplace, which represents complex manufacturing lines of high variety and volume of products.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study based on semi-structured interviews was conducted with managers responsible for I4.0 implementation, and the responses were treated by content analysis.
Findings
Findings reinforce I5.0 aspects to be considered in terms of work organization. The interviewees highlight work and human factors as important for technology implementation, which includes workers tasks, skills, nature of work, human resources development, hiring process and organizations strategies. It was also found that knowledge sharing poses a huge challenge.
Originality/value
In lieu of gaps in the literature, this research further discusses management challenges to support digital transformation and impacts on workers and organizations.
Journal Article
Long-Term Sustainability from the Perspective of Cullet Recycling in the Container Glass Industry: Evidence from Italy
Glass manufacturing is a high-volume process, during which large substance quantities are transformed into commercial products, and significant amounts of non-renewable resources and energy (i.e., thermal fuels and electrical power) are consumed. The main purpose of this study is to give a critical explanation of the performance of the Italian container glass industry from the perspective of cullet being recycled, to outline the opportunities for transition towards circular business models that stimulate innovation in new sectors based on reverse-cycle activities for recycling. In 2015, disparate performances have been achieved as regards the container glass recycling rate in northern, central, and southern Italy, accounting for around 73%, 64%, and 55%, respectively. In fact, only northern Italy is in line with European targets, as by 2025 it will only need to increase its current performance by two percentage points, unlike central and southern Italy that will have to increase performance by, respectively, 11% and 20%. This shows a need to improve the efficiency of municipal waste collection systems in central and southern Italy, where undifferentiated waste still holds appreciable amounts of glass. Consequently, we propose several improvement channels, from the revision of waste legislation to the re-engineering of waste management supply chains.
Journal Article
The relationships among network ties, organizational agility, and organizational performance: A study of the flat glass industry in Taiwan
Firms face a rapidly changing market environment under the pressure of difficult challenges such as limited resources and increasing costs. Organizations may actively seek to cooperate with other members for benefits from knowledge sharing. Establishing quality network ties among suppliers and customers is a significant study subject. Here, we assessed the impact of the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement on Taiwan flat glass industry and study measures adopted by the manufacturers. The effective sample size is 250. We found that through the intermediary of organizational agility and strong network ties, a firm can enhance its organizational performance.
Journal Article
A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Typical Foam Glass Production
Foam glass is a new insulation building materials and plays an important role in building energy efficiency for its many excellent performances, such as small thermal conductivity, low coefficient of thermal expansion and high mechanical strength. Generally, the manufacturing process of foam glass mainly can be classified into two typical processes, the waste glass recycling process and glass melting process. In this paper, the process-oriented life cycle assessment is used to quantitative analyze and evaluate the environmental load, such as energy consumption and pollutant emission of the two typical processes. The results show that the environmental load of the glass melting process takes place in two stages of the foaming and annealing, and the raw material extraction, while the waste glass recycling process mainly come from foaming and annealing. Regarding the energy consumption of foam glass, waste glass process is lower 22.4% than the glass melting process, while carbon emissions is lower 24.8%, and the comprehensive environmental impact is lower 40%. Therefore, the findings will guide and promote the new technology application for the energy saving and green technology applications in foam glass industry.
Journal Article
An online defects inspection method for float glass fabrication based on machine vision
Quality control is a crucial issue in a float glass factory, and defects existing in float glass can dramatically depress glass grade. Manual inspection in float glass quality control cannot catch up with the development of float glass industry, and automatic glass defect inspection has been a trend. An online defects inspection method for float glass based on machine vision is presented in this paper, and a distributed online defect inspection system for float glass fabrication is realized. This method inspects defects through detecting the change of image gray levels caused by the difference in optic character between glass and defects. A series of image processing algorithms are set up around the analysis of glass image and the requirements of online inspection system such as reliability, real-time, and veracity. Image filtration based on gradient direction is used to filter noise and reserve the source information of defects. Downward threshold based on adaptive surface removes the background composed with stripes and strengthens defect features. Distortion part and core part of defects are obtained through fixed threshold and OTSU algorithms with gray range restricted, respectively. The fake defects (insects, dust, etc.) are eliminated based on the texture of real defects. The application of an inspection system based on this method in Wuhan glass factory proves this inspection method is effective, accurate, and reliable.
Journal Article