On The Innovation Day, which took place on September 20, 2022, the Chamber of Commerce awarded the most innovative companies. Out of all the innovations that were nominated this year in the tenders of the regional Chambers of Commerce, as many as 45 of the best golden regional innovations competed for the highest innovation awards of the Chamber of Commerce at the national level.
Steklarna Hrastnik received the highest, GOLD AWARD FOR THE BEST INNOVATION OF THE YEAR, for the production of sustainable glass packaging using green hydrogen and recycled glass.
At Steklarna Hrastnik, we are committed to keeping sustainable development at the top of our priorities, regardless of the challenges, as one of the most important foundations of the company’s operations. Our challenge and objective are to find a solution and implement sustainable technology innovations. We are becoming the bearers of process innovations in the field of carbon balance in the sector at the EU level and paving the way for a brighter and more sustainable era in our industry.
Steklarna Hrastnik wanted to demonstrate that with the carbon neutral bottle product the transition to carbon neutrality is already possible today. We wanted to create an innovative and sustainable solution that will position the company as a trendsetter in the increasingly competitive market of premium glass packaging. Our company also wanted to ensure significant differentiation in the market and the opportunity to create higher added value.
The AUTHORS of the innovation are Tilen Sever, Mateja Koritnik (RC anemia), Franc Rot, Marjan Polak, Špela Polak, Simona Lesar, Tanja Mudrinič, Aleksandra Jurišić, Nina Šalomon (Steklarna Hrastnik), Blaž Likozar (Chemistry Institute). We sincerely congratulate everyone!
The complexity of the innovation is shown through the spectrum of involved stakeholders: manufacturing companies, public research organizations, and private development companies in the interdisciplinary fields of the environment, hydrogen, energy, combustion, glass development, and software solutions, which had to be taken into account and placed on a common denominator. Many external contractors were involved in the project, among the more important ones being the Institute of Chemistry, the University of Ljubljana, the University of Maribor, Messer AG, and others. During the four years of development, more than 60,000 development hours were spent.
The sustainable bottle made exclusively from 100 % green hydrogen and 100 % recycled glass represents innovation at the international level. According to the information we know, there is no glass packaging on the market that was manufactured using such a process and achieved such a low environmental footprint.
Once again, SINCERE CONGRATULATIONS to all colleagues who contributed to the development of our golden innovation in any way. We also congratulate the other golden award recipients – in addition to Steklarna Hrastnik (in cooperation with RC eNeM) -, the companies TPV Avtomotiv, Highfly, Domel, Klingrad, Pipistrel Vertical Solutions, and Lek were awarded this year.
PHOTO: GZS – Innovation Day Awards