Oliver Wiegand is "Glass person of the year 2018"
An award for Oliver Wiegand
The event was attended by more than 100 people from all over the world, including members of the Phoenix Committee and winners of the Phoenix Award from past years as well as Nikolaus Wiegand with Mrs Angela Wiegand and a delegation representing all plants and employees of the Wiegand-Glas business group. Graham Womersley highlighted the pioneering spirit of Oliver Wiegand, explaining that, over the years the managing director has made a name for himself in the glass industry in the field of research and development, developing and testing new technologies. The entire glass industry has benefited from this, Womersley said in recognition of the achievements. Today, Wiegand-Glas is one of the leading container glass companies worldwide, which is mainly due to the quality of the glass production, the environmentally friendly plants and the extensive use of waste glass in glass production. Wiegand-Glas was the first glass plant to install and test NIS machines and cullet preheaters as well as a gob assist systems for better gob charging. The Wiegand-Glas furnaces are the cleanest and most efficient furnaces in the glass industry with low energy consumption and low emissions.
Praise for Wiegand-Glas
Graham Womersley highlighted the very high proportion of waste glass in the glass production of Wiegand-Glas. Today, a glass bottle produced by Wiegand-Glas consists of up to 97% waste glass. The chairman of the Phoenix committee also pointed out that Oliver Wiegand, together with his cousin Nikolaus Wiegand, is the fourth generation of the Wiegand-Glas family to run the traditional company; his whole life has been shaped by glass. He had grown up in a family where glass was talked about daily, the chairman continued, adding that Oliver's father, Konrad Wiegand, explained glass production and glass manufacturing technologies to him from an early age. Oliver Wiegand thanked his wife Jutta, his father Konrad and his cousin Nikolaus Wiegand, explaining that, while they both have different characters, he values his opinion and their mutual trust very much. Furthermore, in his speech Oliver Wiegand thanked the entire staff, without whom Wiegand-Glas would not have achieved these successes. The Phoenix Award is a global prize presented once a year to a living personality who has made special contributions in the field of technology development, innovation or the manufacture of glass. In conclusion, Graham Womersley once again honoured Mr Oliver Wiegand as the most worthy and well-deserved recipient of this year's award.