SCHOTT Receives SPIE Catalyst Award for Glass Production Trials with 100% Hydrogen

SPIE Catalyst Award recognizes significant advancements in environmental sustainability
SCHOTT pioneered industrial-scale use of 100% hydrogen to produce optical glass without compromising quality. This large-scale use of hydrogen in glass production is technologically very demanding and has not yet been attempted by any company
Achievement marks a major step toward decarbonizing specialty glass production

SCHOTT Receives SPIE Catalyst Award for Glass Production Trials with 100% Hydrogen

Press:
Rina Della Vecchia
SCHOTT North America
rina.dellavecchia@us.schott.com

Matt McLoughlin
Gregory F

SCHOTT, the international technology group and inventor of specialty glass, has been honored with the SPIE Catalyst Award for its groundbreaking achievement in producing optical glass using 100% hydrogen as a fuel source. Over six years of research, the project progressed from small-scale trials to full-scale production, achieving seamless transitions to hydrogen while maintaining high glass quality. A three-day continuous run at an industrial scale last March demonstrated that glass can be produced without compromising quality.

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Successful testing on a large industrial scale: SCHOTT has produced an optical glass with 100% hydrogen for the first time. Photo: SCHOTT

The SPIE Catalyst Award, in its second year, celebrates organizations that make significant contributions to environmental sustainability. SCHOTT’s pioneering efforts in decarbonizing high-temperature glass melting — a process requiring temperatures of up to 1,700°C — set a new benchmark for sustainability in glass production.

SCHOTT’s infrastructure, including a 5,000 Nm3 hydrogen tank and adapted burner systems, allowed for stable melting with hydrogen. Initial tests on a production tank at 35% hydrogen admixture over a four-week period, followed by 100% hydrogen firing on an optical glass tank, demonstrated that hydrogen can replace natural gas entirely.

“Earning the SPIE Catalyst Award underscores our commitment to leading innovations for carbon reduced glass production,” said Jonas Spitra, Head of Sustainability Communications at SCHOTT. “This recognition reaffirms our belief that decarbonizing glass production is not only possible but critical to a sustainable future. At SCHOTT, we will continue to develop further technological solutions on our journey.”

Since 2021, SCHOTT has used 100% green electricity and aims to continue its sustainability efforts, reimagine how glass is made. To date, SCHOTT’s tests have relied on gray hydrogen due to limited access to green hydrogen.

“We have heavily invested in R&D and have proven that we can produce the same high-quality glass with hydrogen. The current lack of a viable infrastructure and competitive pricing for green hydrogen however present challenges to further scale up our testing,” added Spitra. “We urge policymakers to establish improved framework conditions to further drive innovative ideas”

With a possible future ramp-up of green hydrogen production, SCHOTT is well-positioned to handle further production.

"Each year, the SPIE Prism Awards showcase a comprehensive range of innovative products based on optics and photonics technology,” said SPIE CEO Kent Rochford. "By bringing these optics and photonics enabled products to market, these companies — the finalists as well as the winners — offer us transformative technologies that will impact lives across the world. It’s been a true pleasure to congratulate them in person.”

Learn more about SCHOTT's climate protection activities.

About SCHOTT

International technology group SCHOTT produces high-quality components and advanced materials, including specialty glass, glass-ceramics, and polymers. Many SCHOTT products have high-tech applications that push technological boundaries, such as flexible glass in foldable smartphones, glass-ceramic mirror substrates in the world's largest telescopes, and laser glass in nuclear fusion. With their pioneering spirit, SCHOTT’s 17,100 employees in over 30 countries work as partners to industries such as healthcare, home appliances, consumer electronics, semiconductors, optics, astronomy, energy, and aerospace. In fiscal year 2024, SCHOTT generated 2.8 billion euros in sales. In addition to innovation, one of its important corporate goals is sustainability, where it is pursuing climate neutral production by 2030. SCHOTT was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in Mainz, Germany. The company belongs to the Carl Zeiss Foundation, which uses its dividends to promote science. Further information at www.schott.com