Concerns about the Glass Industry in America and world-wide.

A few weeks ago Spectrum Glass Company, one of the largest companies that manufacture "art glass " in America announced it would in a few months time no longer be trading and be shutting its doors. This has come as a big shock to the glass world. Below is part of the statement it put out to customers giving reasons why , after over 40 years of production it was closing its doors.

 “Market factors have played the most significant role. Our facility was built to support product demand at the height of art glass movement, but our sales never fully recovered following the Great Recession. We have watched our sales dwindle dramatically to only 40 percent of production capacity, while overhead expenses have continued to increase. Our consistently reduced levels of sales simply cannot cover the fixed costs required to operate a facility of our size. “Additionally, the entire U.S. art glass industry is now being evaluated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with respect to potential new regulations. Long-standing interpretations of air quality regulations are being reevaluated, and if new regulations were applied to our facility, it would require substantial capital expenses. Spectrum Glass Company has operated well within existing environmental guidelines and has been the only stained glass manufacturer to employ baghouse technology on furnace exhaust. Still, we have already accrued extraordinary, unanticipated expenses since the start of the EPA evaluation and cannot withstand additional investments of an unknown scale for an already faltering business.

Since that statement was released, Bullseye Glass Company, another American glass manufacturer and one, incidentally that supplies most of my glass has come under scrutiny by the EPA. Last week they were issued with a "Cease and desist" order in which they have had to stop production of all glass manufacture because of a one time spike in levels of lead being found  near to the factory on May 9th. The "Cease and desist" order lasts for 10 days but could be extended while the EPA investigates. Meanwhile Bullseye are left in a situation of being unable to produce glass and are having to start laying people off.

I am not sure what is going on. Bullseye have always stated they want to work with the EPA to be the cleanest manufactures of glass in America but if things go on as they have been America will no longer have a glass industry, and the implications of that will be felt world-wide.