AGC Glass Europe

All over the world there is increasing demand for quantitative information about the environmental performance of products. To comply with this demand, a voluntary Environmental Product Declaration programme was set up by the industry several years ago. The EPD system is a way of providing science-based, verified and comparable environmental information.
AGC Glass Europe fully recognises the need for such a harmonised approach accepted by the industry itself, the public sector and non-government organisations around the world. The EPD system has the support of the international industry and the EU Commission. Companies and organisations in countries all over the world are working to improve the system.
To develop this EPD system, a life cycle analysis is required. We are participating actively in LCA for European float glass as part of the “Glass for Europe” programme.

In 2010, AGC was awarded Cradle-to-Cradle certification for its float glass and soft coatings ⁽¹⁾  under the Cradle-to-Cradle programme run by the independent organisation MBDC.

Cradle to Cradle (C2C) is a rigorous programme run by MBDC to assess how sustainable products are overall, i.e. over their entire lifecycle. The aim of this innovative approach is to certify the environmental degree by which the products are manufactured. This means gauging sustainability from the first stage of production right to the decomposition of the end products.
The programme aims not only to evaluate and certify the quality of products, but also to measure their positive impact on the environmental balance. In other words, the challenge is to model the industry on the principles of nature. This is truly a new industrial revolution! By adopting the philosophy and ethics of C2C, AGC has become a leader in this area of the glass industry.
The Group is truly a pioneer in incorporating stringent environmental objectives into its production methods and end products.

(1) Planibel Clear, Planibel Green, Planibel Bronze, Planibel Grey, Planibel Azur, Planibel Dark Blue, Planibel Privablue, Planibel clearvision and the TopN+, TopN+T, Top 1.0, EnergyN, EnergyNT, Planibel TRI and Stopray coatings.