From 14–16 May 2013, a major conference for the glass industry was hosted by Emhart Glass, world leaders in glassmaking machinery.
Entitled ‘Leaders Explore the Future of Glass Packaging’, it was held at the lakeside town of Lucerne, Switzerland. The concept behind the conference was to consider what lies ahead for the glass-container industry.
More than 100 delegates from over 30 countries worldwide attended. The program represented a broad spectrum of views on glass and glass packaging, from global trends and business opportunities to health and the environment.
Following a welcome and dinner on the evening of 14 May, proceedings began on 15 May with a welcome from Martin Jetter, Emhart Glass’ President. Then Futurist Matthias Horx, Professor Dr Klaus Wellershoff and Prof Dr Klaus Töpfer looked at the key trends in politics, the economy and culture, before Philip Mosimann, CEO of Bucher Industries (Emhart Glass’ parent), delivered the keynote speech. In the afternoon, delegates heard from Dr Leonard Sax on plastic packaging and child development, before Karine Dussimon of Euromonitor looked at the challenges of future growth in glass packaging.
On 16 May, Professor Dr Hans-Jörg Bullinger of the Fraunhofer Institut explained how to drive innovation by getting ‘more from less’, before Dr Christian Roos of IGPR looked at ‘21st-century glass and how to get there’. Ferdinand Tumpalan of the San Miguel Yamamura Packaging Corporation examined the future of glass in emerging markets, and then Anthony Gardner of O-I and Jérôme Fessard of Verallia argued for the continuing relevance of glass as a packaging material. The conference closed with a ‘message in a bottle’ from Martin Jetter.
Feedback from participants has been positive across the board. ‘…glass is brilliant – we should all fight for it.’ ‘Emotions are back in glass!’ ‘Consumers love the brands we deliver,’ ‘Glass is always our favorite… it always fascinates us as the best packaging’. ‘there are things we can do together, let’s work on it” ‘glass is like a jewel’.
Overall, the conference was a resounding success, and Emhart Glass extends heartfelt thanks to everyone who took part, whether as organizers or attendees.
About Emhart Glass
Emhart Glass, a division of Bucher Industries AG, is headquartered in Cham, Switzerland, with offices and manufacturing facilities located throughout the world. The company is a leading supplier of forming machines, inspection machines, controls, and parts to the glass container.
