Packaging firm Orora's factory is undergoing upgrades as it looks to try to cut emissions and save on costs.The changes are estimated to reduce its energy consumption at the plant over the next decade by 1.8 million gigajoules.A lot goes into making glass containers, from running furnaces at around 1,500 degrees to the materials themselves.
Central to the effort is a new furnace worth around $40 million that is due to come online within months. It opened a new recycling plant nearly two years ago and has a target of using 60 per cent recycled glass in its bottles by 2025.The company says using recycled glass has a number of benefits, including reducing the amount of new materials required for products as well as lowering the energy needed to make them.
Under state law, large retailers are obligated to meet energy efficiency targets set annually by the state's energy minister. "The first step in any great sustainability plan is energy efficiency, because you can reduce carbon and cost at the same time," said James Magill, Origin Energy's executive general manager of Origin Zero, the firm's renewable energy arm.