Encirc, a top glass producer and co-packer, and Diageo, the world’s largest producer of premium alcoholic beverages, have partnered to produce the first net zero glass bottles at scale by 2030.
Encirc, a Vidrala firm, intends to reshape the glass industry by constructing a new furnace at its Elton site in Cheshire.
The furnace will use a combination of green electricity and low-carbon hydrogen to minimize carbon emissions by 90%. By 2030, carbon emissions that have not yet been captured are anticipated to be done so.
It will be run on hydrogen and carbon-free energy produced at the Vertex (HyNet) plant in Cheshire. By 2030, it is anticipated to be fully operational and to be producing up to 200 million bottles per year of Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Gordon’s, and Tanqueray.
The UK government’s goal of becoming net zero by 2050 will include decarbonizing glass packaging, and here is an illustration of top UK businesses teaming up to be creative in using green energy to manufacture at scale. Vertex Hydrogen, a collaborator in the government-backed HyNet North West cluster, the UK’s foremost industrial decarbonization project, will supply the hydrogen used to power the new furnace.