DENA – the German Energy Agency (Deutsche Energie Agentur) honours projects that are committed to climate protection and sustainability in its annual Energy Efficiency Awards.

At the 2024 awards event, Ardagh Glass Packaging’s NextGen Furnace won the Think Big! award for complex energy transition projects. The groundbreaking NextGen Furnace hybrid technology replaces natural gas with renewable electricity to significantly reduce the carbon impact of glass packaging.

Think Big! Award for NextGen Furnace

Ardagh’s R&D Project Manager, Joris Goossens, highlighted the significance of the NextGen Furnace for sustainability and energy efficiency: “The furnace’s ability to melt glass at commercial scale using high levels of renewable electricity, while incorporating up to 70% recycled glass content, is a game-changer in energy efficiency. To date, these innovations have enabled us to reduce carbon emissions by 64%** for every glass bottle produced. We are proud to win the DENA Think Big! award, which reflects Ardagh’s leadership in driving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions within the glass manufacturing industry.”

Ardagh continues to ramp up the electrical heating in the NextGen Furnace towards its target of 80%, to further minimise carbon emissions from glass packaging production by up to 69%* per glass bottle.

Notes

*A 2023 Life Cycle Analysis by Eunomia demonstrates the carbon savings per glass bottle to be produced in the NextGen Furnace, compared to a bottle from a conventional AGP furnace. A typical 330ml glass bottle produced in the conventional AGP furnace at Obernkirchen produces 140.1g of CO₂, compared with one to be produced in the NextGen Furnace once fully operational at 80% renewable electricity and 20% gas, which is expected to produce 43g of CO₂: a 69% reduction across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.

** Based on LCA calculation: January to June 2024.

(Source: Ardagh Group)