Sustainability Update 2026

All the details and figures of AGC Glass Europe’s decarbonisation journey in 2025 can now be found in the updated Sustainability section of the corporate website on https://www.agc-glass.eu/en/sustainability. 

Leading our industry to decarbonise

The AGC Group’s sustainability objective is to reduce the company carbon footprint by 30% in 2030 (FY2019, scope 1+2+3) and achieve net zero carbon (scope 1+2) by 2050. To contribute to this objective, AGC Glass Europe set out a carbon reduction roadmap that takes all parts of the value chain into consideration. AGC Glass Europe monitors its carbon footprint on a yearly basis. According to GHG calculations, it is estimated that in 2025 the Carbon Footprint of AGC Glass Europe was 2.4 million tonnes of CO₂ eq.(*) which marks a gradual progress in its net-zero trajectory. Further details and graphs of can be found here.

AGC Glass Europe's 2025 carbon footprint report highlights its commitment to sustainability through key initiatives, including the renewable and low-carbon electricity projects, the recycling of glass cullet, the Volta project and the production of Low-Carbon glass. The impact of these initiatives is also reflected in the gradual improvement of the total quantities of CO₂ emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3) generated due to AGC Glass Europe’s activities, calculated relative to the melted tonnes. 

Decarbonisation highlights of 2025

Use of renewable and low-carbon electricity 
Renewable and low-carbon electricity projects at AGC play a pivotal role in reducing our reliance on grid electricity and minimizing associated CO₂ emissions. Amongst the initiatives are: investments in Power Purchase Agreements, the installation of wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, cogeneration plants and heat recovery systems at our sites. The latest project concerns a photovoltaic power plant installed at the AGC plant in Seignbouse (France). In partnership with E.ON., a first PV plant of 2.7 MWp was installed in 2024, followed by the installation of a second PV plant of 5,1 MWp which has been operational since the beginning of 2026.
These initiatives are complemented by the use of Guarantees of Origin (GOs) for various sites, ensuring transparency and traceability in our renewable and low-carbon energy sourcing. Leveraging the AIB (Association of Issuing Bodies) system. Through this decarbonization strategy, AGC successfully covered 65% of its electricity consumption with low-carbon sources in 2025, surpassing the 50% milestone for the first time. Read more here.

Glass Recycling
In 2025, AGC Glass Europe recycled about 750,000 tonnes of cullet, saving about 900,000 tonnes of raw materials and about 500,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions (direct & indirect). 
Over 180,000 tonnes of this volume came from pre- and post-consumer sources collected via our AGC Recycle Glass network. Recycle Glass is AGC's service for collecting flat glass waste from industrial losses and from end-of-life projects, covering architectural, automotive, and specialty applications like PV cullet. This waste is then recycled and remelted into new, more sustainable, flat glass production.
In 2025, AGC Recycle Glass announced a strategic partnership with Solar Materials to advance on PV flat glass circularity. And recently in May 2026, it announced a collaboration with Reiling to accelerate automotive circularity with a breakthrough in windshield Flat-to-Flat recycling.
Read more on flat glass recycling  

VOLTA** : One year demonstrating hybrid melting at industrial scale
The VOLTA pilot furnace marks a decisive milestone in the demonstration of hybrid melting for flat glass, following one full year of continuous operation. Since its start-up in early 2025, the pilot furnace has delivered stable and consistent production, providing strong technological validation of the robustness of the hybrid concept. Over the year, operational performance fully met design expectations. Energy consumption, temperature control and float glass quality were confirmed across a wide range of cullet ratios and pull rates. These results strengthen confidence in the scalability of the concept and support its suitability for future industrial-scale deployment. 

• What enables these results: Higher energy efficiency through hybrid melting, 50% share of electricity, with certified renewable sourcing, and increased cullet use: 88% in standard operation (vs. 40% previously)
• What it delivers: 66% reduction in fossil fuel consumption, 71% reduction in Scope 1+3 CO₂ emissions vs. reference (emissions related to gas and raw materials only, according to Innovation Fund accounting)

The Volta R&D project, supported by the EU Innovation Fund, is a cooperation between AGC and Saint-Gobain, and combines the technical know-how and innovative approaches of both companies. More on the VOLTA page    

Low-Carbon Glass
Thanks to a holistic approach to decarbonise, AGC Glass Europe is offering its customers Low-Carbon float glass with significantly less embodied carbon since 2022. It can also be supplied – after further processing in compliance with the same holistic principles - in AGC’s key ranges of functional glazing products, such as safety glass, insulation glass, solar control glass and fire-resistant glass. Thanks to the company’s relentless efforts, AGC’s Low-Carbon and Standard Glass now feature unprecedented Global Warming Potential (GWP) validated by third-party verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and recycled content values:
•    Low-Carbon Glass: 4.8 kg CO₂ eq./m² (4mm) with more than 60% recycled content* 
•    Standard Planibel Glass: 9.8 kg CO₂ eq./m² (4mm) with 11.2% recycled content*
*external cullet
Discover more on AGC Low-Carbon Glass.

(*) The GHG results use the Market--based scenario for Scope 2 calculations. Results include Automotive and Architectural division – AGC sites in 19 countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Morocco, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

(**) The Volta project is funded by the Innovation Fund of the European Union. 
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.