In France’s historic “Glass Valley,” luxury perfume bottles are going green. The Pochet Group has launched the country’s first electric furnace dedicated to high-end glassmaking, marking a bold step toward decarbonization.
In rapid succession, molten drops of glass fall into molds, giving shape to iconic perfume bottles from Lancôme, Chanel, and Guerlain—now produced with a lighter carbon footprint thanks to a new electric furnace at the Pochet du Courval glassworks in Normandy.
An intense heat surrounds the furnace, which continuously melts a mix of raw materials—sand, limestone, and crushed recycled glass—at 2,550°F. The glowing molten glass flows to shaping machines that breathe life into flacons shipped around the world.
For over 400 years, the Pochet du Courval factory (part of the Pochet Group) has operated in the Bresle Valley in Hodeng-au-Bosc, Normandy. Today, it produces around one million glass containers per day for the fragrance and beauty industry.
Until recently, all production came from three gas-fired furnaces, whose combustion released large amounts of planet-warming emissions.
But since mid-February, one of them has been replaced by an electric model—the first in France dedicated to high-end glassmaking, in a region now known as the "Glass Valley."
Not only is it powered by low-carbon electricity, but “it uses half the energy of a gas furnace while delivering higher capacity—66 tons per day versus 50,” said André Frézel, the group’s technical director.
While much of French and European industry struggles to shift away from fossil fuels, this family-owned packaging group—employing 1,650 people in its glass division—remains firmly committed to decarbonization, even if, as Frézel notes, it’s “against the economic current.”
Pochet decorates bottles for major names like Dior, Chanel, Lancôme, and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Some designs have become cultural icons—like Guerlain’s bee-embossed bottle, created in 1853 for Empress Eugénie.
Nearly 200 years later, the company is evolving to meet the luxury sector’s growing climate performance demands.
The glass industry, heavily dependent on gas, accounts for 3% of France’s total industrial greenhouse gas emissions. On average, it emits about 1,100 pounds of CO₂ per ton of glass produced, according to the Federation of Glass Industries.
To reduce energy use during melting, Pochet already incorporates 15% recycled glass. It aims to cut its total greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2033, compared to 2014 levels.
Electricity as a Competitive Edge
The shift to electric wasn’t simple. It required seven months of construction and 12,000 hours of employee training. “Gas heats quickly and intensely, but cools fast,” explained operations director Benoît Marszalek. “Electricity heats up more slowly and evenly, and it retains heat longer.”
The transition demanded a €40 million investment, including €6 million in public funding—an ambitious bet amid soaring energy prices “since the war in Ukraine,” Marszalek admitted.
A long-term electricity purchase agreement with a solar power plant has stabilized costs, but still doesn’t cover all of Pochet’s decarbonized energy needs. That’s why CEO Xavier Gagey is calling for action: “We need affordable electricity pricing.”
If the company is to install a second electric furnace, he says, EDF must provide better terms, and the French government must send “clear signals” to industries choosing to go green.
“Our competitors in Asia and the U.S. pay two to four times less for energy than we do here in France—even though we’ve got a nuclear plant just 25 miles away in Penly,” Gagey pointed out.
For more than a decade, France’s most energy-hungry industrial clients—from aluminum to chemicals—have enjoyed cut-rate electricity. But that program ends in 2026.
Talks between EDF and these companies to negotiate long-term replacements have stalled over high pricing, which “electro-intensive” sectors say threatens their global competitiveness.
Gagey fears that smaller firms like Pochet could be left behind while steel and cement giants take priority. “We must be included,” he warned, “or the decarbonization effort is at risk.”
With AFP
Comments