AGC Glass Europe announces new low-carbon glass offering

To contribute to a sustainable world, AGC Glass Europe is committed to marketing products that promote sustainable development and minimize the impact of production processes on the environment.

The Group is now taking this sustainable approach one step further, announcing a new glass range with a significantly reduced CO₂-footprint, which will hit the market in late 2022.

Details will be released in September during a press conference at glasstec 2022 to be announced in Düsseldorf.

AGC's Roadmap to CO₂-neutrality

As part of its Roadmap to CO₂-neutrality, AGC focuses on shifting to new technologies, sustainable
raw materials, alternative energy sources and increased glass recycling to reduce both process-related and indirect emissions. Following advanced testing and successful pilot productions, AGC will introduce a new range of CO₂-poor glass, the first orders of which will be delivered by the end of 2022.

AGC has already let it be known that by 2050 at the latest it will have CO₂-neutrality wants to be, with the intermediate goal of To reduce direct and indirect CO₂-emissions by 30% by 2030*. The roadmap to achieve this goal and the indirect CO₂-emissions includes a series of measures for the coming years, based on an integrated approach - from research and development, procurement and production across the entire supply chain and transportation, to closing the loop according to the Cradle to Cradle approach.

"To reduce CO₂-neutrality to be achieved is a holistic transformation of our glass production needed," said Davide Cappellino, President of AGC Architectural Glass Europe & Americas Company. "This extends from sourcing and using sustainable raw materials and increasing the proportion of recycled cullet to the way glass is melted using new technologies, alternative energy sources and increasing use of renewable energy - without losing sight of the design and use of our products."

Initial production of CO₂-poor glass

Thanks to combined measures in several recently modernized furnaces, the Group has reduced CO₂-footprint of part of its production managed to reduce.

"I am therefore very proud to announce that at AGC, thanks to our ongoing developments in carbon-free production, we will have our first CO₂-low glass products will launch," Cappellino said. "This is a crucial milestone on our path to CO₂-neutrality."

Background: AGC's commitment to sustainable construction

For many years now, AGC Glass Europe 50% has been devoting part of its R&D budget to research and development of sustainable products that will make its ecological footprint climate-positive in the future. To this end, AGC tests the sustainability of its extensive offerings against a holistic approach that rests on three proven pillars:

1. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs).
   AGC Glass Europe's EPD journey began back in 2009 with the publication of the first EPD for float glass. Today, most AGC products feature EPDs.
2. The CO₂-company's footprint
   The first calculation of the CO₂-footprint of AGC was conducted in 2009 and repeated every three years until 2020. Since then, the footprint is calculated annually to monitor progress on CO₂-roadmap. Today, for every ton of CO₂ emissions caused by AGC Glass Europe's operations, more than nine tons of CO₂ are saved through the use of energy-efficient products.
3. Cradle to Cradle environmental certification of products
   In 2010, AGC became the first European glass manufacturer to be awarded Cradle to Cradle Certification for float glass and magnetron-coated glass. Today, of all glass manufacturers, AGC is the producer with the largest portfolio of Cradle to Cradle certified® glass products.
   

*Emissions perimeter 1, 2 and 3 compared to 2019. For more info: https://www.agc.com/en/news/pdf/20220610e.pdf