Research Question: How can integrated risk management approaches in the glass industry improve resilience against energy volatility, supply chain disruptions, and regulatory pressure, while supporting long-term sustainability goals?
Context: The glass industry is highly energy-intensive and heavily reliant on stable supply chains and long-term capital investment. At the same time, it faces increasing regulatory requirements (e.g. ESG, CO₂ pricing, reporting obligations) and pressure to decarbonize. Yet, systematic approaches to risk identification and mitigation—especially those integrating sustainability objectives—are often underdeveloped. We invite researchers from industrial engineering, sustainability studies, operations management, and economics to share insights, models, or best practices that could support risk-aware, future-ready transformation in the glass sector.
The glass industry should move beyond the conventional financial and operational risk management models to incorporate energy volatility, ESG compliance, and decarbonization requirements in its integrated risk management (IRM). A hybrid model that incorporates scenario-based energy risk analysis, carbon price simulations, and supply chain sensitivity that enables glass manufacturers to determine vulnerabilities early in strategy can assist in recognizing strategic vulnerabilities.
In economic and policy terms, IRM structures also need to encompass incentive-based policy tools like green bonds, carbon credits, and tax exemptions on sustainable capital investments. Digital twin models and predictive maintenance with the help of AI can reduce downtimes and energy loss even more to increase resilience.
In addition, the inclusion of sustainability-linked KPIs in risk registers, like CO₂ per ton of production or ESG audit readiness, guarantees compliance with the long-term strategy while at the same time meeting the requirements of regulation. Replicable strategies may be drawn from the experience of the energy transition in other energy-intensive industries (e.g., steel or cement).
Interdisciplinary work is a necessity. To achieve this, economists, sustainability professionals, and engineers will have to jointly design data-based, forward-looking IRM models that will not consider sustainability as an externality but as a fundamental performance driver in the future of glass manufacturing.
Thank you for this thoughtful and forward-looking response. I fully agree: integrated risk management (IRM) in the glass industry must evolve to reflect the realities of energy volatility, decarbonization, and ESG-driven expectations.
From my perspective, sustainability, risk management, and business excellence are not separate domains – they are increasingly converging. A modern IRM model must not only anticipate risks but also foster innovation and resilience. This requires integrating sustainability-linked KPIs, scenario planning, and AI-based tools into core strategic and operational processes.
I’m particularly interested in how such interdisciplinary models can be designed in cooperation between engineers, economists, and sustainability professionals – not just to reduce risk, but to actively drive excellence and innovation across the glass value chain.
Looking forward to continuing the exchange.
By integrating financial, operational, environmental, and compliance risks into a unified management system, the glass industry can not only withstand external shocks, but also accelerate its transformation toward sustainability.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Methodology
- Research Methodology
- Research Papers