A glass factory abandoned 20 years ago can be revived in Kuzbass

The issue of creating a glass factory in Anzhero-Sudzhensk is being considered by the authorities of Kuzbass. “The pace of construction is growing, there is a huge need for double-glazed windows, and you have the raw materials for this. In addition, a substation with large capacities will be reloaded,” Governor Sergei Tsivilev said at a meeting with the head of Anzhero-Sudzhensk, Dmitry Azhichakov.

Speaking about the available raw materials, the governor probably had in mind Kailinsky sand, which in 1941 became the basis for opening the second glass factory in the country beyond the Urals in Anzhero-Sudzhensk. It was only decades later that the situation with sand drove the last nail into the plant's coffin. And the thing is that Kaily sand, despite the ideal characteristics for construction, was completely unsuitable for glass making due to the high content of clay. Therefore, later the plant switched to Izhmorsky sand, which was mined near Kemerovo, but the occurrence of sand was heterogeneous. The quality varied. Therefore, with the increase in production, the quality of glass fell, because the sand was no longer checked due to lack of time. Then the plant had to switch to the Volga sand, which was delivered without interruption in the Soviet Union, and then the 1990s began.

The capitalist system killed the plant for 10 years, until it finally went bankrupt. If earlier the Volga sand was supplied on preferential terms, then in the 1990s, the tariffs for transporting sand began to exceed the price of the sand itself by one and a half times. Raw materials now cost 250% more. And in 2002 the plant officially closed. At that time, no one even thought that with the new economy it was still possible to revive the plant, but today, 21 years later, Sergei Tsivilev again had the idea of creating a glass factory in Anzhero-Sudzhensk.

So far, it is too early to talk about the project of the plant. But if in the near future they begin to consider this issue seriously, then there will be a dilemma about price / quality. It is unlikely that sand from the Volga quarry will be delivered to Kuzbass for a pittance, and production on homemade sand will not be able to compete with other large glass factories in the country. It remains only to rely on new technologies that should have stepped forward over the past 20 years.

Based on materials: https://vashgorod.ru/