TOLEDO, Ohio — Libbey Glass' Toledo facility will receive $45.1 million in federal funding and a Kraft Heinz Corporation facility in Fremont will receive $16.246 million from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a nationwide industrial decarbonization effort, U.S. Sen. Marcy Kaptur's office said in a press release Monday.
The Toledo-based glassware manufacturer will match the funding it received for a $90 million project at its north Toledo facility to "replace and upgrade four regenerative glass melting furnaces with two larger hybrid electric glass melting furnaces," the company said.
The new furnaces are estimated to reduce up to 60% of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions at the facility, increase its sustainability. create 268 jobs and provide more employment opportunities through local labor unions and educational institutions, according to Libbey Glass.
"This project builds on Libbey’s legacy of innovation, and it will demonstrate the viability of electrification as an alternative fuel source for the entire glass industry," said Libbey Glass' chief operations officer, James Burmeister.
Kraft Heinz's Fremont facility will use its funding to install heat pumps, electric heaters, electric boilers, anaerobic digestors, biogas boilers, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic and thermal energy storage, among other technologies, according to Kaptur's office.
The $16.246 million in funding is a portion of a $170.9 million grant Kraft Heinz received to decarbonize 10 of its plants across the U.S., including the Fremont facility. This will create an estimated 500 jobs across the 10 plants.
“At Kraft Heinz, we’re on a journey to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” said Marcos Eloi Lima, a Kraft Heinz spokesperson. “This investment will give us critical resources to make necessary improvements in our plants to help increase their energy efficiency and reduce emissions. This investment recognizes our continued efforts to reduce our environmental footprint, and we’re eager to get started.”
Perrysburg-based O-I Glass, Inc. announced it was selected by the DOE to negotiate for up to $125 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to rebuild furnaces at three facilities, including one in Ohio.
Owens-Brockway Glass Container Inc. and Cleveland-Cliffs Steel, both based in Ohio, also received DOE funding.