Glass packaging manufacturer Owens-Illinois (O-I) has unveiled its latest investment in greener manufacturing technology at its San Polo plant, located near the vineyards of Veneto in Italy. Inaugurated on 27th June, the new furnace adds to the inherent sustainability of glass packaging.

The new investment in Italy will drive O-I’s sustainability objectives: to reduce energy usage, reduce CO2 emissions and increase efficiency. It follows two other projects by O-I aimed at bringing environmental benefits: A new furnace at its Barcelona (Spain) plant and the introduction of photovoltaic solar panels at its Béziers (France) plant.

The investment at San Polo plant is worth €15 million and took nine months from planning to the re-starting of production. The new furnace – named Centauro – has been installed with a new system that combines regenerative technology with recuperative technology.

“Centauro is the first furnace of this kind in the world and we are proud that Italy has contributed to defining new qualitative standards in sustainability and efficiency,” says Alessandro Gardenal, San Polo’s plant manager.

Specialising in providing green glass and UVAG (UV-resistant) glass bottles to the wine and sparkling wine markets, San Polo was already a modern, sustainable plant prior to the new investment. It had long since introduced a filter to lower emissions, and used approximately 85% cullet in its production of new glass. However, O-I wanted to reduce the plant’s environmental impact further still, in line with its ambitious sustainability agenda. Gardenal explains: “San Polo has therefore become the first plant in Italy to be completely renewed and equipped with a new generation furnace that enables a drastic reduction of energy consumption and a resulting reduction of CO2. The new technology also enables a drastic cut in water consumption, of over 30 million litres a year.”

President of O-I Manufacturing in Italy, Angelo Breviari, adds: “The plant is now one of the most sustainable in Europe and also one of the most efficient. The new furnace also required that other machinery be updated and some new devices added – all of which are proprietary to O-I – in order to deliver an even higher standard of quality to customers. With 217 employees, the plant is one of the most important economic resources in the area, and we are proud to be contributing not only to sustainability, but to increasing the economic assets of the Veneto region. Following our “zero accidents” programme, we are also proud that this plant has already exceeded 500 days without accidents.”

“The San Polo plant has a long partnership with the most notable local wine and sparkling wine brands, and our glass bottles are produced geographically very near to the cellars, so we can deliver them in a very timely way. This is important not only from a sustainability point of view, but also because we can help our customers to better meet demand,” says Giovanni Saudati, Sales Director for O-I Italy.

Inauguration conference: O-I’s commitment to sustainability

To mark the importance of the inauguration of the new furnace at San Polo, O-I held a round table conference with the theme 'A sustainable future for the environment: O-I’s commitment'. This was attended by important guests such as Maurizio Sacconi (Minister of Labour and Social Policies), Sen. Tiziano Treu, Sen. Maurizio Castro, Dr. Alessandro Vardanega (President of Unindustria Treviso), and Dr. Claudio Brizi (managing director of GDF Suez). The objective of the round table conference was to explain how this latest investment fits into O-I’s strategy and the ambitious sustainability targets it aims to reach by 2017.

Vitaliano Torno, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for O-I Europe, explained: “With 2007 as a baseline, O-I intends to achieve the following objectives by 2017. We want to cut global energy consumption by 50% and increase to 60% the proportion of recycled glass used in the manufacture of new glass bottles. These are the key elements that will allow us to meet our third objective: To reduce carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions by 65%. Our objective is also to eliminate workplace accidents through our Corporate Health and Security programme”.

The use of a higher percentage of cullet, which melts at a lower temperature than raw materials, would enable substantial savings in terms of energy and emissions, while also saving save raw materials – making glass an even more sustainable material. “But if we want to continue to increase our cullet rate, we need to have access to better quality cullet,” explains Mr Torno.

O-I is also working on reducing the weight of its glass packages to offer a more sustainable product. “We want to deliver totally eco-friendly glass containers to our customers,” says Mr Torno, “So we have launched the Lean+Green range, which are lighter than standard bottles.”