EU glass packaging closed loop recycling steady at 74%
Date
10 Apr 2018
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Climate & Environment
Latest industry data on glass recycling show that the average glass recycling rate in the EU28 is steady at 74%. This means that over 11.6 million tons of glass bottles are collected, and recycled into food grade quality material for the production of new glass containers.Countries such as Belgium, Slovenia or Sweden, with excellent separate collection systems, continue to outperform beyond 95%. While glass stands alone as the most circular packaging solution, maintaining permanent quality even when recycled, the reality is that there is still an important collection gap to fill in many EU countries.
“Our industry is mobilized to fill the gap to 100% EU glass recycling because recycled glass is our most important raw material”, commented Adeline Farrelly, FEVE Secretary General. “We hope the new packaging recycling targets will give the necessary boost to all EU countries to invest in closed loop glass collection.”
As pointed out at the Euractiv Event, real recycling is a balancing act between developing materials that are recyclable, and markets that are open to use recycled material. “More and more effort is being put at European level to use recycled material for new food packaging”, says Jean-Paul Judson, FEVE Public Affairs Manager. “Recycled glass is of food grade quality. It goes straight into new food or beverage containers. We want to engage with policymakers to make this model the reference”.
(1) - See FEVE Recycling Statistics published on the FEVE website www.feve.org
ENDS
About Glass
Made of natural minerals abundant in nature - sand, soda-ash, recycled glass and limestone - glass is a 100% recyclable material, manufactured in a one step process under one roof. Some ninety per cent of collected glass bottles and jars are used over and over again to produce new food grade glass packaging in the closed loop system. Each time a bottle or jar is recycled into new containers, energy and raw materials are also saved and less CO2 is emitted. By recycling glass, over 12 million tons of raw materials are saved each year and over 7 million tons of CO2 are avoided - equal to taking 4 million cars off the road. We save 2.5% energy for each 10% of glass recycled in the furnace.
About FEVE
FEVE is the Federation of European manufacturers of glass containers and machinemade glass tableware. Its members produce over 20 million tons of glass per year. The association has some 60 corporate members belonging to approximately 20 independent corporate groups. Manufacturing plants are located across 23 European States and include global blue chip and major companies working for the world’s biggest consumer brands. See more on www.feve.org About the Container Glass Industry
About the Container Glass Industry
The European container glass industry provides a wide range of glass packaging products for food and beverages as well as flacons for perfumery, cosmetics and pharmacy to their European and world customers. With its 160 manufacturing plants distributed all over Europe, it is an important contributor to Europe’s real economy and maintains 125.000 direct and indirect jobs along the total supply chain. See more on www.feve.org
For further information contact:
Michael Delle Selve, Senior Communications Manager, E-mail: m.delleselve@feve.org, Tel: +32 (0)2 536 00 82
Jean Paul Judson, Public Affairs Manager, E-mail: jp.judson@feve.org, Tel: +32 (0)2 536 00 85
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