Enter the world of Magma

Enter the world of Magma

For more than 100 years, O-I has been innovating and transforming the glass packaging industry. Their current ambition? To reinvent and reimagine glassmaking so the circularity of glass meets the potential of MAGMA technology. 

At O-I, the aim is to leverage innovation and technology to drive expansion and meet their customers’ growing needs, bringing glass packaging where they need it and when they need it in a sustainable manner. That’s where MAGMA (Modular Advanced Glass Manufacturing Asset) technology comes in — a flexible, modular glass production system in continuous evolution.

That’s why O-I is investing in an all-new MAGMA facility. The MAGMA next-generation capabilities will be showcased in the new facility purposely built for this technology in Bowling Green, Kentucky, launching in 2024. This marks an important milestone for O-I, serving a new market with a state-of-the-art facility, the first new one in almost two decades. The facility will be enabled by advanced technologies and innovative processes, leading glass manufacturing into the future. 

This video enters you into the world of MAGMA.

Reinventing glass manufacturing

MAGMA is a complete re-invention of glass manufacturing, offering a more sustainable product & production process, and unlocking new business models and value to customers. MAGMA allows greater flexibility for smaller production runs, including frequent job and color changes thanks to on-off capability.

A MAGMA line is modular, prefabricated, and can be deployed in half the time of heritage technology. Additional production lines can be added as markets grow. Unlike a traditional furnace, its smaller melting furnace can be moved and redeployed and in the future it can be even near- or co-located with customers’ filling lines, thus improving surety of supply, reducing shipping distances and the environmental footprint. The increased flexibility significantly lowers the barrier to enter new markets.

In addition, another O-I technology project, ULTRA, is planned to benefit both its heritage production and the new MAGMA lines. ULTRA’s goal is to reduce the weight of glass packaging by up to 30% by 2025 without decreasing performance. 

MAGMA is not a blue-sky concept: a MAGMA prototype unit has been in operation in O-I’s Innovation Center in Perrysburg, Ohio since 2015, a pilot unit in Streator, Illinois since 2018, and the first full-scale MAGMA production line in Holzminden, Germany since 2021. The advancements continued in 2022 with the announcement of the first MAGMA greenfield plant, which will be built in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and is expected to begin operations in 2024.  

Technology and innovation as key drivers

Overall, technology and innovation are key drivers of O-I’s sustainability strategy, which involves using multiple levers to lower energy use, increase energy efficiency, and substitute lower-carbon energy sources for more traditional ones. Renewable electricity is increasing year over year, implementation of lower-energy, lower-carbon processes for our furnaces and production processes are progressing, and the company continues to invest in various recycling systems globally to increase the supply of recycled glass to O-I operations around the world. The combination of these efforts has resulted in a nearly 18% reduction in emissions from our 2017 base year and a 5% decline from 2021.

Sustainability requires collaboration and a shared vision across the value chain. O-I is working with a diverse, global supply chain to advance sustainability across 69 manufacturing facilities in 19 countries. Discover their progress in the latest O-I sustainability report.

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O-I Glass, Inc. is proud to be one of the leading producers of glass bottles and jars around the globe. Glass is not only beautiful, it’s also pure 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. O-I innovates in line with customers’ needs to create iconic packaging that builds brands around the world. Led by a diverse team of more than 25,000 people across 72 plants in 20 countries, O-I achieved revenues of $6.1 billion in 2020.  Learn more: o-i.com / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / LinkedIn.