Ardagh Glass Packaging recently announced the launch of a new strategic initiative through which it hopes to transform its business and respond to changing conditions in the global glass packaging market. To explore the key pillars, drivers, challenges, and PPWR-related concerns associated with this new strategy, we spoke with Alexander Kuzan, Ardagh Glass Packaging Europe’s new CEO, and Mark Porto, Executive Chairman at the Ardagh Group.
To kick things off, please could you give a broad overview of your recently unveiled Clearly Ardagh strategy? What are its key pillars?
MP: Clearly Ardagh is a major strategic initiative to transform Ardagh Glass Packaging (AGP) in a challenging global market. It is focused on better aligning our capacity to market demand, driving efficiency in our operations and across our business, strengthening our commercial partnerships and reinforcing a high-performance culture throughout the organisation.
The actions taken as part of the Clearly Ardagh initiative will ensure that AGP is more resilient and better placed to reinforce its position as a key player in the dynamic global glass packaging industry.
The initiative is built on four foundational pillars:
- Strategic Capacity and Network Evolution: Deploying the right resources – from our people to our capital – in the right places, to meet our customer needs.
- End-to-End Performance: Focusing relentlessly on efficiency and continuous improvement across our operations.
- Portfolio Value Management: Changing our approach to commercial engagements to ensure that our relationships deliver value for both our customers and for us.
- People-Powered Culture: Reinforcing a performance-driven culture by investing in our people, decentralising operational decision-making and enhancing performance metrics.
Why has Ardagh decided to launch this new strategy – what are the primary drivers, and why now?
MP: In a fast-changing market with many external factors impacting production and demand we are undertaking this initiative to transform the way we work and ensure we remain successful in the long term. We have a clear path forward, know what needs to be done to create a more resilient and competitive business, and are taking decisive action to secure Ardagh’s long-term success.
We operate in a dynamic and evolving environment where competition, consumer trends, and geopolitical events impact production, supply, and demand. The market for glass packaging has stabilised at a lower level of demand than in the past. This transformation is a response to these market realities to ensure AGP is resilient and well-positioned for the future.
2025 was a transformational year for the business. The comprehensive recapitalisation and change to our ownership structure sets us on a strong footing, and today we have the resources and focus to chart a clear path for continued business and operational improvement.
We are emerging from a transformational period with renewed strength, and we are taking decisive action to lead the industry into the future. The Clearly Ardagh initiative is our path forward. We are making targeted capital deployment and operational improvements to create a more resilient and competitive business, ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional value to our customers and investors and secure our success for the long term.
Ardagh’s capital expenditure is set to rise from 6% to 9% of total sales in 2026, through to 2030 – where will this spending be concentrated? As well as speaking in general business area terms, can you identify some specific projects?
MP: We intend to increase capital expenditures from 6% to approximately 9% of total sales in 2026 and to maintain this level of CAPEX investment as a percentage of annual sales on an average basis through 2030.
We are investing back into our business to ensure that we have the infrastructure we need to meet customer needs, maintain the health of our core assets, innovate, and optimise the network.
Specific proposed projects include investment in new, more complex furnace technologies, innovation in automisation and closing the loop, safety, energy and optimising sustainability.
We are already investing in added value, such as our advanced printing equipment in UK and Nordic, increasing both our capacity and capability for decoration. We will continue to add automisation like swabbing and quality check robots, which improves consistency, with the potential to increase output.
I’d like to ask Alexander a question, who just started in his new role of CEO at Ardagh. Which parts of Clearly Ardagh do you expect to make the most progress on in your first few months at the company?
AK: Given the dynamic market environment we are operating in, and in our attempt to be close to our customers’ and the market’s needs, we need to focus on all four pillars of our Clearly Ardagh strategy.
Our pillars 1 (strategic capacity and network evolution) and 3 (portfolio value management) are probably the two pillars that will see the biggest change in the short term – particularly in the way we enter commercial agreements and how we allocate capital and resources in our network in order to optimally meet our customers’ needs.
Our pillars 2 (end-to-end performance) and 4 (people-powered culture) are foundational and are important enablers of our long-term success as a company. We therefore must continue to stay attentive and focused on how to nurture and evolve both as part of our company DNA.
What do you expect will be the most challenging part of the strategy in terms of implementation, and why?
AK: Navigating our business in a world of volatility and uncertainty has become the new normal given the global events of the past five years. We need to adjust to that and strike the right balance between agility, risk taking and diligence in our decisions in order to succeed.
This may require a shift in mindset and approach across parts of our business, particularly in a market that has enjoyed stability and consistent growth for many decades. With the conviction and dedication of our teams, we are confident we will succeed in this transition.
To what extent does this new strategy aim to meet the requirements of the PPWR, which comes into full effect in August of this year?
MP: Glass as a packaging material aligns with the core principles of the PPWR: circularity and recyclability, while also representing a sound choice from both health and environmental perspectives.
Through our Clearly Ardagh strategy, we are further strengthening our commitment to these values.
Our targeted initiatives, such as lightweighting and optimising packaging configurations, ensure that our products meet evolving market expectations as well as regulatory requirements.
Thanks to the proactive work of our sustainability, quality, and regulatory teams, who have been monitoring developments on the PPWR, we are already supporting our customers in meeting their upcoming obligations, which begin to take effect in 2026 (specifically in relation to substances of concern).
It is important to note that the PPWR will not be implemented in its entirety in August, rather, its provisions will be introduced progressively through to 2030 and beyond.
We will continue to monitor emerging developments and requirements to ensure that Ardagh remains well positioned to support our customers in the future, as we do across all regulatory areas.
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