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'Furnace of the Future' to Reduce CO₂ Emission by 50% in Glass Production
European Glass Packaging Manufacturers are coming together to make the first large-scale hybrid electric furnace operating with 80% green energy (electricity). 20 glass packaging manufacturers, including GCA, always a follower and practitioner of new technologies, will come together for the first time in history to work on this concept and will mobilize their resources for the project.
"The Furnace of the Future", designed under the leadership of the Federation of European Manufacturers of Glass Containers (FEVE), represented by GCA in Turkey, will serve as an important milestone in the decarbonization journey of the glass packaging industry. The furnace will replace existing fossil fuel energy sources, reducing CO2 emissions by 50%.
Although several amongst the 150 glass production facilities in Europe are working with electric furnaces, most of them produce on a small scale and only with raw materials, therefore, they almost can never use recycled glass. Prominent European glass container manufacturing companies that care about the environment, including GCA, turn to electricity, that is one of the most environmentally friendly energy source possible in order to use recycled raw materials. Thanks to this new technology, the glass industry will be able to produce more than 300 tons of glass per day using high levels of recycled glass.
Realizing ‘’The Furnace of the Future" is an extremely challenging project that requires a wide range of expertise, with significant financial and human resources. For this reason, it needs the technical skills and the best engineers of important glass container manufacturers, including GCA. The project also aims to receive the support of the European Commission through the Innovation Fund Financing Program (ETS).
The project, supported by GCA in Turkey in line with its sustainability goals, is planned to be completed in 2022, while the first results are expected to be achieved in 2023.
Why is the Hybrid Furnace Project Important?
Today, the use of electricity as the main energy source in the glass packaging industry is limited to small-scale furnaces that do not use recycled glass. This technology will enable the use of a high scale recycled glass, which is not the case with electric furnaces.
This technology, that will replace 80% of natural gas with green electricity, reduces furnace emissions by 60% or the total CO2 emissions of a glass packaging factory by about 50%.
This project will bring together the best engineers of 20 glass packaging manufacturers for the first time in history, demonstrating that such an innovation can be achieved.
Thanks to the flexibility of this hybrid technology, it will be possible to switch to other energy sources if a problem occurs in electrical energy. This will ensure that there will be no disruption in production.
List of the 20 “The Furnace of the Future” Founding Member Companies
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Allied Glass |
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Ardagh Group |
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BA Glass |
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Beatson Clark |
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Bormioli Luigi |
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Gerresheimer |
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GCA |
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O-I Europe |
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Pochet |
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Saverglass |
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SGD |
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Steklarna Hrastnik |
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Stoelzle |
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Verallia |
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Verescence |
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Vetreria Etrusca |
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Vetropack |
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Vidrala |
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Wiegand- Glashüttenwerke GmbH |
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Zignago Vetro |
About FEVE
FEVE is the Federation of European manufacturers of glass containers for food and beverage and flacons for perfumery, cosmetics and pharmacy markets. Its members produce over 80 billion glass containers per year. The association has some 60 corporate members belonging to approximately 20 independent corporate groups. Their 160 manufacturing plants are located across 23 European States and maintain 125.000 direct and indirect jobs along the total supply chain.
See more at www.feve.org.
26.03.2020