Sustainability Report 2022 now online

Our Sustainability Report is now online on www.agc-glass.eu and covers the environmental achievements for 2021 of AGC Glass Europe, operating with 2 divisions (Architectural Glass Division and Automotive Division). These achievements are the results of the continuous commitment of all the sites of AGC Glass Europe to achieve the company’s 2030 environmental objectives. 

Production operations: 2021 achievements at a glance 

Energy recovery and electricity production: AGC started to install PV panels and heat recovery installations in 2009. Since then, electricity production has steadily increased to 32,221 MWh of recovered and self-generated energy in 2021.

Air: On a comparable basis, per tonne of glass sold, Upstream Operations has reduced its direct CO₂ emissions by 10% since 2002. The use of Heavy Fuel Oils has been consistently reduced during this period to disappear completely in 2020. There has been a reduction of around 63% in the specific dust emissions since 1999.

Water: From 1998 to 2021, we have managed to reduce the water consumption by 69% on a comparable basis.

Solid waste: Today, the amount of solid waste produced by the Group is around 220,000 tonnes/year, of which around 97% is further recycled or recovered on site by our suppliers or contractors.

Transport: 57% of all raw materials is transported by ship, barge and train, taking about 57,985 trucks per year off the road. In 2021, about 42,000 tonnes of finished glass products were transported in combined train and truck transport, taking about 2,100 trucks per year off the road.

Packaging: Today most of the glass packaging is reusable. AGC Glass Europe achieves a very high level of packaging reuse. In Belgium 98% of the packaging is reused.

Recycling: AGC Glass Europe recycles around 1,000,000 tonnes of cullet per year, saving about 1,150,000 tonnes of raw material and 700,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

Green energy production at AGC plants

AGC started to install PV panels and heat recovery installations in 2009. Many projects are under study to further increase our green energy production and reduce our electricity consumption from the grid and the associated CO₂ emissions. The most recent confirmed project concerns AGC‘s float glass plant in Seingbouse (France), where an ORC plant for waste heat recovery and a photovoltaic power plant will be installed in partnership with energy company E.ON.

Carbon Footprint 1:9

AGC Glass Europe monitors the total carbon footprint of its operations following the GHG Protocol guidelines. AGC’s first Carbon Footprint calculation was performed in 2009 and repeated every three years up to 2020. It is now calculated every year to better follow the progress of our carbon roadmap. The latest calculation shows that AGC Glass Europe activities are responsible directly and indirectly for 3,535,000 tonnes CO₂ emitted per year (reference year 2020). 

AGC Glass Europe monitors also the avoided carbon from the use of its products, resulting in 33,530,000 tonnes CO₂ avoided. This means that for each tonne of CO₂ emitted by AGC, nearly 9 tonnes are avoided thanks to the use of our products.

Discover now our Sustainability Report on www.agc-glass.eu