Background Glass is a key element to many industries and in Western Europe, the average annual consumption of glass is estimated to be 18 kg per person. The manufacturing processes of mineral products such as glass, lime, and cement are responsible for 50% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, more than the chemical and metal industries. Glass production also requires large amounts of energy and leads to the emission of pollutants (SOx and Nox) that can cause acid rain. The European Commission has set targets to be reached by 2020 in order to limit the negative impact of pollutants (COM (2005) 446 final). To achieve this objective, by 2020 SO2 and NOx emissions must decrease by 82% and 60% respectively from 2000 levels. Some steps have been taken by the glass industry in order to address these challenges. A good example of this is the LIFE HotOxyGlass project, which developed a new hot oxy-combustion technique that significantly improves the environmental performance of glass production in terms of energy consumption and GHG emissions. This technology is currently limited to large furnaces producing flat glass, and is not suitable for small and medium furnaces (as the used in tableware glass manufacturing) because of the poor return on investment. Objectives The LIFE Eco-HeatOx project will set-up and implement a pilot-scale industrial furnace for tableware glass using only hot oxygen and natural gas, to remove the oil portion used by standard industry furnaces. The project will focus on tableware glass and this technology, if validated, can be transferred to all small and medium-sized furnaces regardless of the sector as long as the furnace operates above 700°C (as do the majority of active furnaces in Europe). The process will require less equipment than existing technologies thus allowing it to be more broadly applied to small and medium-sized glass furnaces. As well as reducing CO2 and NOx, emissions, it will also cut natural gas and oxygen consumption by preheating those reactants to 450°C using waste heat from furnaces. By saving energy, the technology should reduce the impact of energy-price fluctuations on glass producers. It is expected that reduced additives consumption and overall financial viability will help the transferability of the technology. The project team will build a pilot plant to demonstrate and validate the technical feasibility in an industrial context. Benefits will be assessed and widely disseminated to owners of small and medium-sized furnaces. Expected results: The project expects to obtain the following results: Implementation of an improved oxy-combustion technology in small and medium-scale furnaces;A 23% reduction in CO2 emissions linked to tableware glass production; A 90% reduction in NOx emissions linked to tableware glass production; andA 23% reduction in energy consumption (savings of 700 Mwh/yr).