In its two flagship French plants, the O-I GLASS group is pulling out all the stops to achieve one primary goal – decarbonization.
In Gironcourt-sur-Aisne, which has just celebrated its 120th anniversary, EUR 55mn will be invested in building a furnace coupled with innovative technology. Dubbed GOAT, aka Gas Oxy Advanced Technology, it involves a mixture of gas and oxygen combined with a heat recovery system that should reduce CO2 emissions by up to 18%. A production line will also be modernised.
In Reims, in the Marne area, where the plant is a model for O-I’s sustainability efforts, the renovation of one of the two furnaces and a production line, along with its energy efficiency processes have required an investment of EUR 40mn and will also reduce its carbon footprint by up to 5%. The Reims plant will be celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and is considered by the group to be one of its most modern glass manufacturing sites in the world.
After a first wave of investments in 2019, when EUR 50mn were spent on the Reims plant which produces 300 million bottles a year, this new announcement confirms the environmental pledge made by the Ohio-based glass manufacturer in its flagship plant. The facilities have already reduced their CO2 emissions by 60% and their fine particle emissions by 80%, primarily by switching their fleet of lorries over to grape seed and frying oil for their fuel usage and by committing to use 90% of recycled glass or cullet as raw materials.
Source: Vitisphere