O-I Glass Selected by US Department of Energy to Receive $125 M Investment to Accelerate Industrial Decarbonization Technologies

Mar 25, 2024 12:35 PM ET
"Selected!" infographic

PERRYSBURG, Ohio, March 25, 2024 /3BL/ - O-I Glass, Inc. (“O-I Glass” or “O-I”) was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to begin award negotiations for up to $125 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding as part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP). The O-I decarbonization project was selected as one of 33 projects across more than 20 states to receive up to a total of $6 billion to demonstrate commercial-scale decarbonization solutions needed to move energy-intensive industries toward net-zero while strengthening local economies, creating, and maintaining high-quality jobs, and slashing harmful emissions that jeopardize public health.

The Glass Furnace Decarbonization Technology project, led by O-I Glass, plans to rebuild four furnaces across three of its facilities in California, Ohio, and Virginia to reduce scope 1 carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 48,000 metric tons per year, an average of 40% reduction of scope one emissions across the four furnaces and their corresponding production lines. The proposed rebuilds plan to combine five cutting-edge furnace technologies on each furnace, marking the first time that all five technologies have been implemented simultaneously. These technologies reduce waste heat and increase electrification, making the furnaces more energy efficient and reducing both direct and indirect emissions. The project provides O-I the opportunity to demonstrate the functionality of combining multiple technologies across different glass colors and container types. 

O-I anticipates each project would support up to 300 construction jobs (up to 1,200 across four furnaces) and plans to establish Project Labor Agreements and Community Workforce Agreements as needed throughout the project to ensure project success and workers’ rights. Additionally, O-I is working to enhance the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts through the intentional engagement of underrepresented groups such as women, LGBTQ+, and veterans. O-I Glass and its charitable contributions would continue to support the communities through local investments in organizations, including the United Way, that address the communities’ social needs, arts and culture, education and career development, and environmental impact related to glass recycling and beyond.

Learn more about IDP and projects selected for award negotiations here. Learn more about innovation-driven sustainability for glass packaging by O-I by visiting: O-I.com/Sustainability/

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ABOUT O-I GLASS 

At O-I Glass, Inc. (NYSE: OI), we love glass, and we are proud to be one of the leading producers of glass bottles and jars around the globe. Glass is not only beautiful, it is also pure, healthy, and completely recyclable, making it the most sustainable rigid packaging material. Headquartered in Perrysburg, Ohio (USA), O-I is the preferred partner for many of the world’s leading food and beverage brands. We innovate in line with customers’ needs to create iconic packaging that builds brands around the world. Led by our diverse team of approximately 23,000 people across 68 plants in 19 countries, O-I achieved revenues of $7.1 billion in 2023. Learn more about us:  
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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements related to O-I Glass, Inc. (“O-I Glass” or the “company”) within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Forward-looking statements reflect the company’s current expectations and projections about future events at the time, and thus involve uncertainty and risk. The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “may,” “plan,” “estimate,” “intend,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” and the negatives of these words and other similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements.

It is possible that the Company’s future financial performance may differ from expectations due to a variety of factors including, but not limited to the following: (1) the general political, economic and competitive conditions in markets and countries where the Company has operations, including uncertainties related to economic and social conditions, trade disputes, disruptions in the supply chain, competitive pricing pressures, inflation or deflation, changes in tax rates and laws, war, civil disturbance or acts of terrorism, natural disasters, public health issues and weather, (2) cost and availability of raw materials, labor, energy and transportation (including impacts related to the current Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas conflicts and disruptions in supply of raw materials caused by transportation delays), (3) competitive pressures, consumer preferences for alternative forms of packaging or consolidation among competitors and customers, (4) changes in consumer preferences or customer inventory management practices, (5) the continuing consolidation of the Company’s customer base, (6) the Company’s ability to improve its glass melting technology, known as the MAGMA program, and implement it within the timeframe expected, (7) unanticipated supply chain and operational disruptions, including higher capital spending, (8) seasonability of customer demand, (9) the failure of the Company’s joint venture partners to meet their obligations or commit additional capital to the joint venture, (10) labor shortages, labor cost increases or strikes, (11) the Company’s ability to acquire or divest businesses, acquire and expand plants, integrate operations of acquired businesses and achieve expected benefits from acquisitions, divestitures or expansions, (12) the Company’s ability to generate sufficient future cash flows to ensure the Company’s goodwill is not impaired, (13) any increases in the underfunded status of the Company’s pension plans, (14) any failure or disruption of the Company’s information technology, or those of third parties on which the Company relies, or any cybersecurity or data privacy incidents affecting the Company or its third-party service providers, (15) risks related to the Company’s indebtedness or changes in capital availability or cost, including interest rate fluctuations and the ability of the Company to generate cash to service indebtedness and refinance debt on favorable terms, (16) risks associated with operating in foreign countries, (17) foreign currency fluctuations relative to the U.S. dollar, (18) changes in tax laws or U.S. trade policies, (19) the Company’s ability to comply with various environmental legal requirements, (20) risks related to recycling and recycled content laws and regulations, (21) risks related to climate-change and air emissions, including related laws or regulations and increased ESG scrutiny and changing expectations from stakeholders and the other risk factors discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It is not possible to foresee or identify all such factors. Any forward-looking statements in this document are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of its experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments, and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from expectations. While the Company continually reviews trends and uncertainties affecting the Company’s results of operations and financial condition, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or supplement any particular forward-looking statements contained in this document.