Transforming the glass industry with environmentally clean and energy-efficient laser technology

ended

GLAZER is a breakthrough solution for high-volume industrial glass processing. It is based on a patented one-of-a-kind CO2 nanosecond-pulsed laser, which was invented, developed and manufactured by Hypermemo specifically for industrial glass processing. Unique features of the system allow precise and fast processing of glass, clearly outperforming all the conventional methods. GLAZER helps eliminate multiple mechanically performed processing operations, such as breaking, grinding and polishing, which produce environmentally hazardous waste. In addition, it eliminates washing and drying operations. This allows making the production process much cleaner, faster and cheaper, also decreasing the investment and maintenance cost. In addition, it provides significant environmental and societal impact, as the eliminated process phases carry the heaviest carbon footprint and are the most hazardous in terms of occupational safety. Being largely exploited by the industry, GLAZER has the potential to save an astonishing 41TWh of energy annually, reducing GHG emissions by 5Mt of CO2eq. GLAZER was prototyped and tested with different types of glass, providing excellent quality and confirming its capability to disrupt the traditional and dirty manufacturing sector with the total market size of €1+ billion. The project’s objective is to industrialize the technology and bring it to the market. Several first-tier glass manufacturers and glass processing machinery vendors confirmed their willingness to conduct GLAZER trials in the real production environment. They will support these trials with financial contribution. As a result of implementing GLAZER technology, the industry will recover within the EU and become cleaner, imposing much lower energy usage and associated carbon footprint. This is a very important impact, as the EU is the world's biggest producer of glass with a market share of around one third of total world production. In 2012, the sector employed 100 thousand people