The transaction was designed to address the working capital needs created by varying payment terms across Şişecam’s multinational supplier network. By introducing a fully digital structure, the company has established a more efficient way to finance approved supplier invoices while strengthening liquidity management throughout its global supply chain.

The award-winning transaction represents the first phase of a broader programme targeting a total value of up to US$250 million. The initial tranche, valued at US$500,000, was financed by İşbank UK, demonstrating the viability of the digital financing model and laying the foundation for future issuances under the programme.

Implementation was completed in just 10 business days through the Faturalab platform, powered by ETR Digital’s Flownote technology. The digital infrastructure enables the rapid and secure issuance of negotiable instruments while integrating directly into Şişecam’s existing accounts payable processes. This allows financing activities to be carried out with minimal operational disruption while improving transaction speed and efficiency.

The structure also introduces greater flexibility in managing working capital assets by enabling them to move more efficiently between traditional trade finance solutions and capital markets. This approach provides additional funding options while supporting more effective balance sheet management.

By allowing approved supplier invoices to be settled earlier, the Working Capital Note model helps suppliers access liquidity sooner while enabling Şişecam to optimise payment terms without compromising supply chain stability. The transaction demonstrates how digital negotiable instruments can modernise working capital financing, improve operational efficiency and strengthen financial resilience across complex international supply chains.

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The renewed certification was officially presented during the VinylPlus Sustainability Forum 2026, held in Genval, Belgium, on 10–11 June. Having first achieved the certification in 2018, Epwin Window Systems has maintained the standard continuously, demonstrating a long-term commitment to environmental responsibility throughout its manufacturing operations.

Sustainability initiatives are integrated across the company’s production processes through a cradle-to-cradle approach. A zero-to-landfill policy ensures manufacturing waste is carefully segregated and recycled wherever possible, while waste PVC-U is transformed into recycled composite materials used in thermal inserts for outer frames, sashes, transoms and mullions. This strategy reduces material waste while increasing the use of recycled content within new products.

The company’s circular economy model also extends beyond manufacturing. At the end of a product’s service life, PVC-U frames are recovered through Epwin Group company Poly-Pure, where reclaimed material is processed and reused in the production of new building products, reducing reliance on virgin raw materials.

David Watts, Group SHEQ Development Manager at Epwin Window Systems, said the renewed certification provides independent recognition of the company’s sustainability achievements and serves as a valuable differentiator for customers.

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“Every project honored across these 10 award programs is a powerful reminder of architecture’s profound impact on our communities, and its role in shaping a stronger future for generations to come,” said 2026 AIA President Illya Azaroff, FAIA. “The projects being are forward-looking, creating spaces that uplift, connect, and inspire. Together, the winners demonstrate how thoughtful design can enrich lives and help build a better future for all.”

The AIA Awards Gala brought together distinguished architects, industry professionals, and supporters to honor outstanding achievements in the 10 award categories announced during the gala:  

• Architecture Award: Honoring the best contemporary architecture regardless of budget, size, style, or type.
• COTE Top Ten Award: The industry’s best-known award for sustainable design excellence.
• Education Facility Design Award: Celebrating state-of-the-art learning environments, including early childhood, K-12, alternative, higher education, and non-traditional environments.
• Healthcare Design Award: Recognizing the most innovative, functional, and sustainable projects in healthcare and design.
• Housing Award: Honoring the best home design that showcases how beauty, safety, sustainability, and comfort come together. 
• Interior Architecture Award: Celebrating the most innovative and spectacular interior spaces across a range of projects.
• Justice Facility Award: Recognizing the best in design for justice architecture.
• Regional & Urban Design Award: Honoring the best in urban design, regional and city planning, and community development.
• Small Project Award: Recognizing the value and design excellence that architects provide regardless of size and budget.
• Twenty-Five Year Award: Awarded to a building that has set an architectural design standard of excellence for 25–35 years.

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Developed as one of the largest privately financed residential projects in HafenCity, Eleven Decks comprises 306 apartments arranged above a ground-floor retail base. The stepped building mass rises to 11 storeys, offering a diverse residential programme that includes one-room apartments, multi-room units, and a penthouse level with landscaped roof terraces. Shared amenities such as co-working spaces, fitness and yoga rooms, a club-style communal area with open kitchen, barbecue facilities, and a green inner courtyard support a contemporary, community-oriented living concept.

Designed by CARSTEN ROTH ARCHITEKT, the project has already received the German Design Award 2024 and Residential Buildings of the Year 2025, while achieving BREEAM “Excellent” certification, confirming its strong ecological and socio-cultural performance.

From a façade perspective, the glazing solution plays a decisive role in meeting both comfort and sustainability targets. isophon glas supplied a high-performance triple-glazed insulating glass unit, designed to deliver very good thermal insulation, effective sound reduction, and high daylight transmission, critical factors in HafenCity’s busy, waterfront environment. On the street-facing loggias, the system was enhanced with a suspended impact pane equipped with an anti-condensation coating, ensuring clear visibility, reduced surface moisture, and long-term façade quality.

The jury noted that the façade demonstrates how advanced glass technology can be precisely adapted to architectural requirements, achieving a balance between transparency, protection, and energy efficiency without compromising design intent.

Founded in 1979, isophon glas is a family-owned specialist employing around 200 people, producing insulating glass, laminated safety glass, and toughened safety glass for demanding projects across Europe. The award underlines the company’s long-standing expertise and its alignment with SANCO’s focus on quality-driven, sustainable glazing solutions.

Established in 2024, the SANCO Reference Award highlights exemplary projects by SANCO partners, assessing not only design and performance but also workmanship, logistics, and responsible construction practices, criteria clearly met by Eleven Decks.

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The recognition focuses on Verallia’s 1-litre reusable fruit juice bottle, redesigned to reduce its weight by 65 grams while maintaining durability, performance, and compatibility with existing refill infrastructure.

This optimisation delivers measurable environmental benefits across the value chain:

• Reduced raw material consumption
• Lower CO₂ emissions during production and transport
• Improved logistics efficiency through lighter packaging

By optimising an established reusable format, Verallia demonstrates how targeted glass design innovation can drive meaningful sustainability gains at scale.

The Verallia Group congratulates Robert Fortenbacher, Sales Manager at Verallia Deutschland AG, and all Verallia Deutschland teams for their contribution to advancing circular glass packaging solutions.

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SentryGlas ionoplast interlayers

Among the highest distinctions were “Project of the Year & Best Project Team” and “First Runner-Up Project of the Year”, recognizing the contribution of SentryGlas solutions across a diverse range of complex glazing applications worldwide.

The Glass Magazine Awards, organized by the National Glass Association (NGA), represent one of the industry’s most respected recognition programs. The 2025 edition included 78 nominated projects and 39 nominated products, reflecting the breadth of innovation shaping today’s glass and glazing sector. The awards ceremony took place on November 4, 2025, in Orlando, Florida, USA, with members of Kuraray’s Advanced Interlayer Solutions Division in attendance.

Award-Winning Projects

The recognized projects span North America, Europe, and Asia, highlighting the versatility of SentryGlas ionoplast interlayers in meeting a wide range of architectural and engineering demands. Applications include structurally demanding façades, large-scale glass roof systems, historic building transformations, and protective glazing solutions for high-rise residential developments.

SentryGlas interlayers are widely specified for projects requiring high load-bearing capacity, enhanced post-breakage behavior, long-term durability, and design flexibility, particularly in challenging environmental and structural conditions. The multiple awards reflect the growing emphasis on glazing solutions that combine performance with architectural expression.

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The IS Watch Dog system is powered by agentic AI developed by Cerrion and enables continuous, real-time monitoring of production lines. By analysing operations as they run, the system detects anomalies early and reacts immediately, helping prevent incidents before they impact people, equipment, or output.

Key benefits of IS Watch Dog include:

Safety

• Prevention of severe fire incidents
• Improved operator safety on production lines

Performance

• Reduced downtime
• Lower occurrence of production jams
• Extended material and equipment longevity

Already proven across several Verallia plants, IS Watch Dog is now being rolled out more broadly across the group’s manufacturing lines, reinforcing Verallia’s commitment to smart manufacturing and digital innovation.

The post Verallia Wins AI Transformations Award for IS Watch Dog Efficiency Project appeared first on GlassBalkan.

This year, Glass Forever reached a major milestone: the recovery of one million tonnes of end-of-life flat glass. As the UK’s first fully circular recovery framework, the programme returns high-quality cullet to the production cycle, helping significantly reduce carbon emissions and reliance on virgin raw materials.

Recovered glass is remanufactured at Saint-Gobain’s Eggborough plant to create products such as ORAÉ®, the world’s first low-carbon flat glass with a verified EPD. Containing 64% recycled content and produced using 100% renewable electricity, ORAÉ® achieves a 42% lower carbon footprint than standard float glass, offering substantial sustainability gains for construction projects.

More than 100 partners now participate in Glass Forever. Many use Saint-Gobain’s patented cullet-crushing equipment and optimised return-load logistics, which boost recycling rates and reduce transport emissions.

The programme is also supporting the circular refurbishment of 30 Duke Street in London, where old glazing will be remanufactured into ORAÉ® COOL-LITE SKN 183 (II) for the building’s new façade.

Lee Glover, Sustainability and Net Zero Delivery Manager, said the repeat win reflects strong partnerships across the sector and proves that scalable circularity in flat glass is “not only possible but delivering meaningful carbon reduction today.”

Saint-Gobain Glass continues expanding its circular partnerships to maximise recovery from both processing waste and refurbishment projects.

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The Design of the Year award was presented for the groundbreaking redevelopment of 30 Duke Street, the UK’s first commercial refurbishment project to incorporate Glass Forever, Saint-Gobain’s circular economy model for flat glass recycling.

In this project, glass removed from the building’s original façade will be fully recovered, remanufactured into high-performance, lower-carbon flat glass, and reinstalled as part of a wider £75 million retrofit. The building is set to deliver exceptional energy efficiency and major reductions in both embodied and operational carbon. The initiative sets a new benchmark for sustainable commercial refurbishment and demonstrates how existing structures can be reimagined through responsible design.

Saint-Gobain Glass also earned the Sustainable Practice award for the long-term success of its pioneering Glass Forever programme. Launched in 2001, the initiative has become one of the UK’s most significant circular economy achievements in the building materials sector. Over the past two decades, the programme has:

• Recovered nearly one million tonnes of flat glass
• Avoided the extraction of 1.2 million tonnes of virgin raw materials
• Prevented approximately 700,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions

Working in collaboration with partners across glazing, construction and deconstruction, Saint-Gobain continues to close the loop on flat glass waste, turning end-of-life materials into resources for the next generation of low-carbon buildings.

Mike Butterick, Marketing Director at Saint-Gobain Glass, expressed pride in the team’s achievements:

We are absolutely delighted to win two awards that reflect the heart of what we do as a business. Glass Forever is a long-standing commitment to circularity and carbon reduction, and seeing it recognised in both categories is incredibly rewarding. Our work at 30 Duke Street shows what is possible when we rethink how buildings are designed and refurbished.

This year, Saint-Gobain Glass UK was shortlisted across four categories, underscoring its broad industry impact, from sustainability and innovation to health, safety, and responsible manufacturing.

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The company is shortlisted in four categories: Best Promotional Campaign for Glazpart’s FIT Show campaign, Best Component Supplier, Sustainable Project of the Year for the FIT Show stand, and Best Customer Care Initiative for Glazpartners. These nominations highlight Glazpart’s achievements across marketing, customer service, sustainability, and component supply.

The G25 Awards Evening will take place on the same day at the Hilton, Park Lane, London. Guests attending the awards are encouraged to join Glazpart beforehand at their Pre-Awards Drinks, running from 4 pm to 6 pm at The Chesterfield Arms, 50 Hertford Street, Mayfair, just a five-minute walk from the main venue.

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