*>EPA U.S. Container Glass Industry Carbon Intensities (2019) EPA ^j™2"005 United States Environmental Protectic Agency Container glass plants (NAICS 327213) operate high temperature furnaces that melt siliceous minerals and other materials to produce glass containers such as bottles and jars. Glass manufacturing is energy intensive and a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the industrial sector. In 2019, 41 container glass plants reported direct emissions of 2.92 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CChe) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).' Emissions from these plants represent 87% of total direct emissions from the container glass industry." Reducing glass plant GHG emissions and product carbon intensity are important goals for both the glass industry and its customers. To assist the U.S. container glass industry in evaluating its efforts to decarbonize, EPA calculated the 2019 carbon intensities for container glass plants based on total direct emissions and glass produced (i.e., melted). These intensities serve as reference points for the industry's carbon performance, represented as metric tons of carbon emitted per ton of glass produced. The intensities are derived from container glass plant data reported to the U.S. EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) and reflect direct emissions (Scope 1) from on-site fuel use and process emissions that contribute to approximately 65% of total (direct + indirect) GHG emissions from container glass plants.'" The table below presents quartile carbon emissions intensities for total glass produced.iv For this study, the 75th percentile reflects plants with lower carbon intensities and the 25th percentile reflects plants with higher carbon intensities. The 50th percentile is the median. 2019 Direct Carbon Intensities Quartile Metric Ton CO2el Metric Ton (MT) of Container Glass Carbon Intensity 75th percentile 0.352 Low 50th percentile (median) 0.402 Midpoint 25th percentile 0.460 High Methodology Container glass plants operating in the United States and its territories with annual emissions of 25,000 MT CChe or greater report total annual greenhouse gas emissions and total glass produced to the U.S. EPA's GHGRP. These emissions reflect all GHG emissions from fuel combustion and the release of carbon dioxide from processing of carbonated raw materials (process emissions) at the plant.v Data for calendar year 2019 (January - December) were analyzed. Carbon intensities for glass produced were calculated for each plant by dividing total annual CChe emissions by the plant's total annual glass production. A distribution of plant carbon intensities was created, and the intensity levels for the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles were calculated. For the purposes of this evaluation, a plant with a carbon intensity at the 75th percentile emits less carbon dioxide per metric ton of glass than a plant with carbon intensity around the median intensity level (i.e., 50th percentile). Container glass plants operating at the 50th percentile perform at the midpoint for the industry, while plants operating above the 50th percentile (i.e., those plants with intensities lower than 0.402 CChe per ton of glass) are operating at above average carbon performance and emit lower levels of CChe per ton of glass than plants below the median. Plants operating at or below the 25th percentile emit higher levels of CChe per ton of glass. Those seeking to compare their container glass plant's carbon intensity to the benchmarked quartiles should use the plant's annual data submission to U.S. EPA, if available, or follow the reporting rules of the U.S. EPA GHGRP for calendar year 2019 and the following calculation using metric tons (MT): MT CC>2e/MT glass produced = Total plant MT CC>2e emissions /total plant MT glass production ------- Observations The quartile distributions of carbon intensities for container glass show a range of performance and demonstrate the opportunity for improvement. Glass from plants at the 75th percentile is 12% less carbon intensive than glass from plants at the 50th percentile. The difference in carbon intensity between glass from plants at the 50th versus 25th quartiles is 13%. The table below shows the differences in carbon intensity between the quartiles. Inter-quartile differences in carbon intensity"' Container Glass 75th vs 50th 12% 50th vs 25th 13% 75th vs 25th 23% No correlations were observed between carbon intensity and plant location, with plants in all quartiles being found in different parts of the country. Glass manufacturers can reduce carbon dioxide emissions from on-site fuel use in furnaces and from process- related emissions in a variety of ways, including: • increased use of cullet, • enhanced adoption of energy efficiency measures that reduce fuel consumption; and • electrification of furnaces as the grid incorporates greater renewable energy. Periodically reviewing emissions intensities provides an opportunity to see the progress made by manufacturers' adoption of these and other strategies that can lower carbon intensity in the production of final glass products. For more information about the EPA's Greenhouse Reporting program Glass Plant Reporting Requirements: https://www.epa.qov/qhqreportinq/subpart-n-qlass-production Glass Technical Support Documentation: https://www.epa.gov/qhqreportinq/subpart-n-technical-support- document Code of Federal Regulations - Subpart N Glass Plants: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-l/subchapter- C/part-98/subpart-N Relationship of the GHGRP to the national Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: https://www.epa.oov/ohqreportino/qreenhouse-oas-reportino-prooram-and-us-inventorv-oreenhouse-oas- emissions-and-sinks. ' In 2019, total direct emissions from all glass manufacturing plants reporting to the GHGRP were 7.8 million metric tons of C02e from 102 plants. 37.6% of these emissions are from container glass. " Glass plants with annual emissions of 25,000 MTCChe or higher are required to report to the GHGRP. In 2019, 41 container glass plants reported total emissions of 2,917,097 MT CC>2e. Using other EPA databases, company plant lists, and other sources, EPA estimates there are 47 large container glass plants currently operating in the U.S. 6 of these plants have annual emissions under 25,000 MT CChe and are not required to report to the GHGRP. Indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions associated with electricity use represent about 37% of total emissions from container glass plants. Direct emissions (Scope 1) from fuel use (45%) and process emissions (18%) make up 63% of total emissions. iv 40 CFR 98.146(a)(2) and (b)(3) requires reporting of the annual quantity of glass produced by each glass melting furnace and by all furnaces combined (tons). v Emissions include non-CC>2 greenhouse gases converted to CChe based on the gas's global warming potential. Non-CC>2 gases represent less than 1% of total GHG emissions in the glass sector. vi The inter-quartile difference was calculated as the percent difference between a lower quartile and a higher quartile (i.e.,50th- 25th /25th). ------- |