ARDAGH Glass Packaging (AGP) has revealed its plan to reduce water consumption by a third across its European sites is on target.
The objective is a key element of Ardagh Group’s Sustainability Strategy, which targets a 26% water intensity reduction by 2030.
AGP explained that two water reduction projects undertaken over the past year have achieved ‘significant’ water savings: the Closed Loop Water Cooling Process in Limmared, Sweden, and the Water Reduction Project in Ujscie, Poland.
In Limmared, by installing a two-step, closed loop, air and water-cooling system, Ardagh said air now replaces water previously taken from the nearby river, to cool down the production process, delivering a 66% reduction in surface water usage compared with 2021.
In Ujscie, independent closed loop systems have been installed for clean and dirty water, in place of using local groundwater, to cool the IS machines, delivering a 25% reduction in water usage compared with 2021.
The water saving initiatives recently won the 2022 Glass Focus Sustainable Practice award from British Glass.
Annelene Ikemann, sustainability director at Ardagh Glass Packaging – Europe, said, “We’re delighted with the progress made thanks to these initiatives: within two years we have been able to significantly reduce our water footprint, bringing us close to achieving our 2030 target. We will continue to focus on water as a resource and further reducing usage across all our facilities.”
