The official inauguration at the Guardian Glass factory in Bascharage;
Credit: Ievgenii Karanov, Chronicle.lu
On Thursday 15 May 2025, the official inauguration of the new furnace took place at the Guardian Glass factory in Bascharage.
Attendees at the inauguration ceremony and official ribbon-cutting at the new furnace included Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Prime Minister Luc Frieden, Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles; Mayor of Bascharage, Michel Wolter, President of Guardian Industries, Ron Vaupel, Executive Vice President of Guardian Glass, Guus Boekhoudt, and Director of the Guardian Glass factory in Bascharage, Jose Miguel Villacorta.
Following the ceremony, the official guests were given a tour of the production site and introduced to the new technologies implemented at the Guardian Glass factory.
In an interview with Chronicle.lu, Raphael Parcot, Engineering Manager at Guardian Glass, explained: “This new technology is a new challenge for us because it’s the first one at Guardian. We are only at the first furnace with this technology, and we already have more efficiency and less environmental impact. The investment was very significant, around €100,000 million. It’s a challenge for the global group to show that we can invest in better technology and achieve higher product quality.” He added: “We can increase production capacity slightly compared to the previous furnace. […] The goal was to maintain the same quantity while achieving higher quality, lower energy consumption and less environmental impact. We are also now able to produce a type of glass called ultra-clear, which we were not able to produce before, so it’s an added-value product.”
The new furnace at the Guardian Glass factory in Bascharage is described as the company’s “most energy-efficient to date.” It includes an advanced heat recovery system that preheats pure oxygen and natural gas before combustion, helping reduce heat loss and gas use. Compared to a conventional air-fuel furnace, the upgrade is expected to improve energy efficiency by 25% and lower CO₂ emissions by 20% over time, according to Guardian Glass.
The site also includes a “state-of-the-art” magnetron sputtering coater, which enables the production of high-performance coated glass. In addition, over 11,000 photovoltaic panels have been installed on the facility’s roof, covering more than 25,000 m². Since August 2024, the system has been supplying electricity and is expected to generate around 11% of the plant’s annual consumption, based on local sunshine averages, as reported by the company.
The Bascharage plant employs a skilled, multicultural team and promotes a culture of safety, quality and continuous improvement, following Guardian’s “Principle Based Management™” approach.
The company stated that glass produced at the site is exported across Europe and internationally. Notable projects using glass from Bascharage include the Court of Justice of the European Union, the Philharmonie and the European Convention Center in Luxembourg-Kirchberg, the Airbus Campus in Madrid, the Grand Hôtel-Dieu in Lyon; the World Trade Center in Utrecht, and, beyond Europe, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Hearst Tower in New York.
