Glass packaging industry embraces “major transformation” to uphold alcohol sector dominance

22 May 2024 --- Glass has long stood out for its sustainability and protective qualities. However, the recent shift in the alcohol industry toward lighter and more durable materials such as PET and paper has posed significant challenges for industry leaders in the glass packaging sector, who are now doubling down on innovation to sustain glass’ long-standing position.

Verallia, the world’s third-largest producer of glass packaging for F&B products, is at the forefront of this transformation. “We want to redefine how glass is produced, reused and recycled to make it the world’s most sustainable packaging material,” a Verallia spokesperson tells Packaging Insights. “Our purpose is to ‘Reimagine glass for a sustainable future.’”

The company’s strategy involves a multifaceted approach to reducing CO2 emissions. By 2030, Verallia aims to cut its direct CO2 emissions by 46% compared to 2019 levels and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The company’s plan focuses on three main drivers: reducing emissions from raw materials, enhancing energy efficiency at industrial sites and using renewable or low-carbon energies.

“The glass industry is undertaking a major transformation to maintain glass as the most sustainable packaging material and the preferred one by consumers,” says the spokesperson. “Verallia is spurring this transformation with technological breakthroughs and innovation.”

Ronald Holmes, VP of sales and sustainability at Arglass, echoes the commitment to sustainability through innovation. “Even though the spirit industry may be switching to other materials for its containers, glass is still the dominant material. Its purity, clarity and infinite recyclability make it the preferred container,” he notes.

Arglass is leveraging technology to enhance efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint. “We are investing in AI and machine learning to improve our quality and sustainability. This technology allows us to identify trends in advance and learn from previous history. It also allows us to correct courses quicker to prevent, detect, and eliminate defects in real-time.”

The glass industry is lightweighting and switching its production processes from natural gas.The preferred consumer choice?
The sustainability credentials of glass are compelling, according to the experts. “In recent years, the glass industry has made bottles lighter and lighter and is currently in the process of switching its production processes from natural gas, which is the main cause of emissions in the glass industry, to alternative energy sources such as green electricity and hydrogen,” Dorothée Richardt, head of PR and press at The Federal Association of the German Glass Industry (BV Glas), tells us.

“However, sustainability is not only measured in terms of CO2 emissions: Glass is 100% recyclable, over and over again, without any loss of quality. The glass industry uses a large proportion of cullet, saving energy and raw materials and reducing CO2 emissions during production. Glass is also practically inert, so it does not interact with the contents.”

Furthermore, The European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) champions glass as one of the only packaging materials that can be infinitely recyclable in a closed bottle-to-bottle loop. “Once produced, a glass bottle becomes the primary resource needed to produce new bottles — saving resources, energy and carbon emissions.”

“For decades, glass has been successfully collected for recycling via curbside and bottle bank collection across the EU under EPR schemes. Today, nearly eight in ten glass bottles in the EU are collected for recycling, and projects such as the Close the Glass Loop aim to increase this rate to 90%,” details FEVE.

According to a study conducted for the FEVE in 2020 by the Friends of Glass organization, more than half of European consumers indicated that they increased their consumption of glass packaging in the last three years (2016–19), and 91% of them recommended glass as the best packaging material to their family or friends (11% more than in 2016), the Verallia spokesperson shares.

Overcoming shortages
As summer approaches and the demand for beer increases, concerns over the supply and cost of glass bottles come to the forefront. The German Brewers Association previously told us glass bottle shortage is a recurrent issue, particularly with the reliance on returnable bottles. In Germany, new glass containers contain over 60% recycled content, shares BV Glas.

Richardt at BV Glas asserts that for Germany, more than 80% of beer sold is sold in returnable glass bottles, which depend on consumers returning empty bottles to retailers to be returned to the breweries, cleaned and refilled. 

“During the summer months, we notice times with longer return cycles because bottles are not returned immediately, which can result in a shortage of reuse bottles, resulting in shortages of empties.”

“In Germany, new glass containers contain over 60% recycled content and up to 90% for the color green. The container glass industry is committed to sustainability, reflected in the constant stream of new developments in glass production and glass products,” shares Richardt.

The experts underscore that glass is uniquely suited for reuse and recycling. With efficient recycling loops via bottle banks and other collection points in place, Europe achieves a high glass bottle return rate. 

“In Germany, glass packaging is collected via bottle banks, and we are very successful at that. The collection rate is 84% and efforts are being made to increase it further,” says Richardt.

“Reusable glass in the beer segment is a functioning closed cycle — beer bottles can be refilled up to 50 times. Reusable packaging is politically supported, and a target is defined in the German Packaging Act.”

Modern furnace tech 
Innovations in furnace technologies and new eco-designed products, such as lighter bottles, exemplify the industry’s commitment to reducing environmental impact while maintaining product integrity.

Glass producers are adopting electrical or hybrid furnaces to reduce environmental impact.Arglass recently secured US$230 million in capital to build a second furnace on its campus in Georgia, US, expanding its production capabilities to over 350 million glass containers annually. 

Projected to be completed in the second quarter of 2025, the new unit will have a fully integrated production network driven by AI-integrated real-time data monitoring, predictive modeling and fully automated closed-loop production and quality assurance systems. 

The new facility will feature the latest-generation oxy-fuel hybrid gas/electric/hydrogen furnace, a closed-loop water system to minimize industrial waste, a 5 MW solar power plant and an on-site glass cullet recycling plant.

“To reduce carbon emissions at our manufacturing site, we are partnering with industry experts to incorporate more external recycled glass in our containers and use alternative power such as solar. Activities such as these will improve our utility usage, thus lowering our carbon emissions and improving our carbon footprint,” Holmes at Arglass tells Packaging Insights.

Meanwhile, the Verallia spokesperson details innovations undertaken by the company to make environmentally sustainable changes. One of the “groundbreaking” innovations is the 100% electrical furnace in Cognac, launched in 2024, which will cut the carbon footprint of the company by 60%. 

Additionally, Verallia has introduced the Bordelaise Air 300G bottle, the “lightest on the market” at 300 g for 75 cl, offering aesthetic appeal and environmental benefits. The bottle is “25% lighter than most standard bottles” and “reduces transport costs between the Verallia plant and the bottling lines.”

The glass packaging industry is actively responding to environmental challenges and competitive pressures through technological advancements and sustainability initiatives. As Verallia’s spokesperson puts it, “Reimagining glass for a sustainable future” is not just a slogan but a transformative journey toward making glass the most sustainable choice for packaging in the modern world.

By Radhika Sikaria