AGC and Saint-Gobain collaborating on decarbonizing glass production

2023-02-09

Feb. 8, 2023 - AGC Inc. (Tokyo) and Saint-Gobain (Courbevoie, France) are collaborating on the design of a pilot breakthrough flat-glass line that is expected to reduce very significantly its direct CO2 emissions.

As part of this R&D project, AGC’s patterned glass production line in Barevka, Czech Republic, will be entirely refurbished into a high performing & state-of-the-art line that targets to be 50% electrified and 50% fired by a combination of oxygen and gas. This is a technical breakthrough compared to current technology used in flat glass furnaces fired by natural gas. It will be the most sustainable flat glass line design contributing to both companies’ paths towards carbon neutrality and to the necessary acceleration of the flat glass industry decarbonization.

This development will pave the way to the conversion of industrial flat glass lines in such a way that it can be powered mainly by low carbon electricity, more efficient than any gas solution, with significantly reduced carbon emissions for the customers’ benefit. The new technology is expected to be implemented on the patterned glass line for operational success by the 2nd half of 2024.

Davide Cappellino, President Architectural Glass Europe & Americas of AGC: “To contribute to a sustainable world, AGC is committed to developing products that promote sustainable development, and to reducing the environmental impact of its production processes. Following our continued progress in decarbonization, AGC launched its first low-carbon glass product range at the end of 2022. Now this hybrid design melter is another important milestone in our Net Zero Trajectory to become carbon neutral as a company by 2050. The breakthrough design will be done jointly with Saint-Gobain, combining the best technology knowledge of both companies.”. 

Joana Arreguy, Industrial Director Glass, Saint-Gobain: “We at Saint-Gobain believe strongly in innovation through collaboration. That’s why we are delighted to co-develop with AGC a new most advanced technology for flat glass production in the world. This project is in line with Saint-Gobain’s commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. This reduction in direct CO2 emissions will benefit our customers who look more and more for low carbon products to be integrated in their solutions. It also comes a few months after Saint-Gobain made two world firsts: a zero carbon production of flat glass last May and the recent launch of ORAÉ, the world’s first low carbon glass.”