Glass packaging production is a high energy user that, despite its many benefits and infinite recyclability, needs a breakthrough to make it a low-carbon packaging material. Reducing carbon emissions from the furnace by melting glass in a completely new way, is a significant step towards achieving this. The challenge for Ardagh Glass Packaging (AGP) was to design a hybrid furnace that produces amber glass - the most chemically challenging colour to produce, on a commercial scale, with up to 70% recycled glass cullet. Using the expertise of AGP’s partner furnace specialist, SORG, with substantial investment from Ardagh Group and funding from the German Federal government, traditional furnace design has been revolutionised by creating a hybrid furnace that significantly reduces the carbon footprint of glass packaging.
The NextGen Furnace uses groundbreaking hybrid technology, to replace fossil fuel with renewable electricity in the form of direct electrical heating via electrodes, to melt the glass. This will reduce carbon emissions by up to 69% per 330ml amber glass bottle* produced in the furnace. Located at AGP in Obernkirchen, Germany, the NextGen Furnace is gradually transitioning the energy mix for glass melting, from 90% gas and 10% electricity in a conventional furnace, to the target of 80% renewable electricity and 20% gas, to significantly reduce carbon emissions. It began as a conventional furnace, producing commercial amber glass beer bottles in October 2023. As electrical heating has increased; carbon emissions have reduced. The furnace has already achieved over 60% electrical heating, delivering over 60% reduced carbon emissions in every bottle - an important step for the entire glass sector. The NextGen Furnace will enable AGP to deliver low-carbon glass packaging, helping customers to reduce their carbon footprint and meet their sustainability targets. Just this one NextGen Furnace will remove thousands of tonnes of carbon from glass production annually, compared to a conventional furnace. When scaled up sector-wide, this technology has the potential to decarbonise the entire glass packaging industry. AGP will continue to evaluate NextGen Furnace technology and, where feasible, plans to roll it out to other AGP facilities throughout the world in the coming years. Installation requirements include the availability of renewably sourced electricity and electrical grid capacity.
By investing in NextGen Furnace technology, AGP has taken the groundbreaking step toward decarbonising the glass packaging industry, two years ahead of others in the sector. AGP will share top-level results with the glass manufacturing sector to accelerate decarbonisation. In future, AGP aims to replace the remaining 20% gas with green hydrogen, eliminating all melting-related carbon emissions from the manufacturing process. *2023 independent Life Cycle Analysis by Eunomia: a typical 330ml glass bottle produced in the conventional AGP furnace at Obernkirchen produces 140.1g CO2, compared with one produced in the NextGen Furnace once using 80% renewable electricity and 20% gas, which will produce 43g CO2: a 69% reduction across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.