Climate change and the urgent necessity for more effective environmental protection are currently prominent on the public agenda. Industry needs to focus on designing products that are healthy, sustainable and recyclable, and are not harmful to the natural environment. Only then can we leave behind a "green footprint" that supports the biosphere instead of damaging it. Through more than 10 years of "Cradle to Cradle" certification work, the European AGC Group is the pioneer for sustainability in the glass industry.

The "Cradle to Cradle" certificate evaluates the sustainability of a product over its entire life cycle. To obtain certification the product needs to fulfil tough requirements in five categories: material health, material reutilization, renewable energy, water stewardship and social fairness. The AGC Group has the world's most comprehensive portfolio of glass products that have been certified to the levels bronze, silver and gold.

The overall evaluation for the insulation glass products, which include Stopray and ipasol, achieves the bronze certificate. In the subcategories "renewable energy" and "water stewardship" the products have been evaluated with silver and for the points "material reutilization" and "social fairness" even with gold. In contrast to other glass products, the "Cradle to Cradle" certification of insulation glass involves significantly more participants as not only the glass is certified. All the other components necessary for the construction of double or triple-pane glazing, so for example the interlayers, adhesives and sealants etc, must fulfil essential criteria.

As a result, the complex certification process involves several dozen suppliers and all the plants involved in the manufacturing. The certification underlines the commitment of the group to environmental protection and sustainability.

Apart from being sure of using really excellent products that do not contain poisonous substances and are recyclable, the use of C2C certified products has a positive effect on the certification of buildings according to the LEED, BREEAM or DGNB standards: it achieves points in eco-certification. Planners can create buildings that can be taken apart, in which ideally everything is recyclable, which function as stores of materials, and in which it has been shown that people achieve higher productivity because they are healthier and happier.

No, the certification is an important component of our environmental philosophy – we want to make our positive "green footprint" as large as possible. These costs are an investment in the future that we do not pass on to our customers. But we are pleased to pass on our enthusiasm.

We are not only suppliers; we are consultants and companions from the planning to the finished building and beyond. Our customers are convinced by our technical, ecological and ethical arguments. Our dedication to Cradle to Cradle is helping it to become more and more established in society. Since 2020, for example, we have been an educational partner of the C2C LAB in Berlin.

The C2C LAB is an authentic laboratory for Cradle to Cradle, an educational centre for anyone interested in Cradle to Cradle, including architects, façade constructors, planners and manufacturers. What use is a Cradle-to-Cradle-capable window to you, for example, if the installer fixes it into the façade using construction foam? It will then no longer be perfectly recyclable. There is not only something to learn about the products, but also about the design philosophy.

As a part of AGC Glass Europe, a large number of products have now been successfully certified in eight different product groups.