The Fédération des chambres syndicales des industries du verre (Federation of Glass Industry Trade Unions) represents the glass industries in France in the packaging, flat glass, beverageware, insulation, fiber and technical glass sectors. It brings together the CSVMF (French mechanical glassmakers' association), the CSFVP (French flat glass manufacturers' association) and the CSFVP (French technical glassmakers' association). According to the association, total emissions from the glass industry represent 2.7 million tonnes of CO2, i.e. 3 % of industrial CO2 emissions in France and 0.6 % of total French emissions. Some 80 % of the sector's emissions are linked to the use of fossil fuels (mainly natural gas), mainly used to melt glass, and 20 % are so-called process emissions, linked to the decarbonation of raw materials (mainly soda ash and lime carbonate).
The glass industry has thus implemented a proactive decarbonization strategy through a roadmap whose main levers are the use of decarbonized energies (electricity, biomethane, etc.), the use of decarbonized raw materials, improved process energy efficiency, glass recycling and product eco-design.
"Glass, omnipresent in our daily lives, fits perfectly into the logic of a sustainable world. The glass industry's transition to a low-carbon world is underway. Glassmakers are committing and investing now in actions and projects to decarbonize their production", says Jacques Bordat, President of the French Federation of Glass Industries.
Use of low-carbon energies
The energy required for continuous-fired glass production (raw materials at a temperature of around 1300°C to 1400°C) is mainly provided by natural gas and electricity. Across the plant, 75 % of the energy consumed comes from natural gas and 20 % from electricity.
The industry is therefore actively working to diversify its energy mix and move as far as possible towards the use of decarbonized energies, with the ultimate aim of eliminating greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels.
Electrification of furnaces and processes is therefore the major path to decarbonization, according to the glass industry federation. By replacing natural gas with decarbonated electricity, the glass industry will evolve from a gas-intensive to an electro-intensive industry.
Depending on furnace size and the type of glass to be processed, either 100 % electric furnaces, or hybrid electric/gas furnaces with a proportion of 80 % electric and 20 % gas should be built. In addition to electrification, residual fossil natural gas will gradually be replaced by biogas, in particular biomethane.
Highly electrified, hybrid electric/gas furnaces are particularly well suited to large-scale furnaces (food packaging and flat glass), and are therefore clearly at the heart of the glass industry's decarbonization strategy.
This reflection on hybrid furnaces had been initiated as part of a collective European project entitled " Furnace for the Future "supported by Feve (European Container Glass Federation). Projects for large-capacity hybrid industrial furnaces (80% electric and 20 % gas) (350 tonnes of glass per day), able to accept a high rate of cullet, have emerged in Europe. Several investments in hybrid furnaces have been announced in Germany, Spain and France. The first hybrid furnace in Germany went into industrial production in 2024. Saverglass' Tourres & Cie site in Le Havre, France, will be equipped with an 80 % electrified hybrid furnace by 2027.
Improving container glass collection and speeding up flat glass collection
A pioneer in recycling, glass is 100 % recyclable ad infinitum, and its recycling rate is rising steadily, reaching 77.9 % in 2021 according to Ademe (88 % for household packaging). For almost 50 years, glass packaging has been collected and recycled to be transformed into new glass bottles, jars and jars. Glass sorted for recycling (cullet) has become the main raw material for glassmakers, accounting for almost 65 % of raw materials. The massive use of cullet saves the energy needed to melt glass and limits the use of natural resources. Glass recycling is also a major lever for decarbonizing glass packaging production. One tonne of recycled glass avoids 500 kg of CO2 emissions.
A new challenge is the collection and recycling of glass from construction waste, where the deposit of flat glass is estimated at 200,000 tonnes, with a low collection rate to date. The introduction in 2023 of the PMCB EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility - building products and materials) should enable rapid progress to be made, thanks to the implementation of an efficient collection system that is well meshed throughout the region.
Photo: Nika Suchá / Pixabay
