
Glass manufacturing processes
There are two main methods of producing glass. The first is the float glass process that is used to manufacture architectural glass, and the second is the glassblowing process that produces containers such as bottles and jars. The float glass process, also known as the Pilkington process, was developed by Sir Pilkington in 1952, and involves feeding a ribbon of molten glass from a furnace onto a bath of molten tin. This process produces a sheet of glass with a uniform thickness and a very smooth surface, which can be used to make windows and any other applications requiring flat sheets of glass. China is by far the largest exporter of float glass, accounting for a 13 percent share of the global export value in 2021.The glassblowing technique was first used around the first century BCE, and deals with the inflation of molten glass into a bubble by using a blowpipe. Throughout time, this process was further developed into two main techniques: mold blowing and free blowing. In 2023 the production volume of glass bottles and containers amounted to an estimated 743 billion units worldwide. Due to the extremely high temperatures required to produce glass, glass manufacturing overall has a high carbon footprint. In 2022, the global carbon dioxide emissions from glass manufacturing amounted to 95 million metric tons.