Posted on September 15, 2021 by Ellen Rogers
Every year, the equivalent of 19 Titanic ships of glass goes to the landfill in the U.S. That’s 12 million tons of glass just in the U.S. Companies like Infinite Recycled Technologies want to change that. Patrick Elmore, president of Infinite Recycled Technologies, said that was one reason the company chose to exhibit at this year’s GlassBuild America Show, which has been taking place this week at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Infinite Recycled Technologies is a 140 year old family owned business, but still young when it comes to glass.
“We got into glass recycling about 3 ½ years ago,” said Elmore, explaining that it was a request from a company in the glass industry that brought them to get involved and find a way to recycle glass products, such as laminated glass. Today they recycle laminated and insulating glass, as well as mirror.
And the company is continuing to grow. Elmore said they are just 30 days away from opening a new location in Ocala, Fla., and by the end of year will have operations in New York, expect to be in Texas next year, and operating overseas within the next couple of years.
Elmore said they are continually expanding and re-designing their equipment to make it operate both stronger and faster.
“We’re expanding and widening our horizons,” he said.
New partnerships was also a big focus for a number of companies at the show. Wagner, for one, has partnered with Faraone to distribute the company’s railing products in the U.S.
Speaking of these partnerships, Phil Hackbarth said that a lot of glaziers that they work with as a company are doing mainly shower doors and partitions and lots of them are now being asked to take on the railings as well.
“… and they [aren’t as familiar] with the railing systems, as they are with the glass,” said Hackbarth. “So we’re trying to work with them [and build] that partnership … Much involves code compliance and they aren’t always familiar with those.”
Softsolution is another company excited about a partnership–its recent merger with Litesentry. Nathan Huffman, president of Softsolution North America, said in the past the two companies might have perceived themselves to be more of competitors, “but our products are really more complimentary—from start to finish, we have the quality inspection tools.”
In addition, Softsolution has also partnered with Glaston to develop and provide even more quality inspection systems for tempering lines.
“We’re combining a lot of technologies [to meet industry needs],” said Huffman. “There’s a lot of potential for new products in the future.”
And speaking of new products, Bailey Cranes and Aerials also has something in the works, though it wasn’t able to make it to the show. The company has developed a new lifting device that has an electrical drive. Jack Gareczynski, sales engineer with the company, said this allows the machine to rotate easily and move sideways, creating a more efficient glazing/curtainwall installation.
While overall the show traffic has been down compared to years past, what hasn’t slowed is the quality of the attendees visiting the booths.
“We opened the doors [on the first day] and had 20-30 people in our booth and it was non-stop traffic,” said Jennifer Walrich, product manager at Magid. “People are noticing the sweaters and how lightweight they are and it’s a really good thing.”
Here at Glass Build America Magid unveiled its new line of personal protective equipment (PPE) specially engineered to serve the unique needs of the glass and fenestration industries. The ANSI cut A9 garments are up to 30% lighter than comparable products for the highest levels of cut protection, along with comfort and breathability, according to the company. The M-GARD® garments with AeroDex® technology integrate new fibers and yarn wrapping techniques to offer a lighter weight PPE that won’t trap heat. The clothing is designed to protect especially vulnerable areas such as the neck, underarm, upper inside leg, and wrist with ANSI A9 cut protection and ANSI A7 protection at the chest, upper arm, torso, and back.
“Magid has been providing solutions for glass manufacturing customers for decades. So when our glass industry customers told us that the PPE they were getting from other sources was bulky, cumbersome, and hot, we assembled a team to travel the country talking to customers in glass facilities from float glass plants to window and door assembly facilities,” said Walrich. “They told us, not only that their PPE wasn’t working for them, but that they were having trouble with supply lines and high prices. We got to work using some of our latest innovations in cooler, lighter, cut-resistant materials to create exactly what glass workers need to stay safe and comfortable in the hot environment of glass manufacturing.”
The GlassBuild America show concludes today in Atlanta. Stay tuned to usglassmag.com for more news and updates from the show.
