Page 42 - Glass Machinery Plants & Accessories no. 5/2017

ANNIVERSARY Glass packaging demands
growths: the market trusts glass
Anniversary
Europeans view glass as the most
environmentally friendly packag- STRONG PRODUCTION GROWTH
ing, and 1 in 2 Europeans claim to
use more glass than in 2014. IN 2016 REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT

PRODUCTION INCREASE ABOVE THE HISTORIC
In the last 50 years, the glass AVERAGE
packaging industry has reduced
energy use by 80 per cent. On GROWTH
average, up to EUR 610 million
is invested every year in industry RATES
development. And some 125,000
jobs are maintained both direct- FOR GLASS
ly and indirectly in the industry
with its 160 manufacturing plants PACKAGING
distributed across Europe. The
industry remains committed to
further implementing a circular Glass packaging produc-
economy model for a more sus- tion in Europe grew by 2.9
per cent in volume (Tonnes)
tainable Europe.
and by 2.1 per cent in unit
terms in 2016 according to
data published today by
the European Container
Bottle-to-bottle (1)
Glass Federation (FEVE .
glass recycling The growth was driven by
up by 139% in exports as well as conti-
nued demand for glass
Europe in the packaging in food and
last 15 years beverage segments in
Europe. A total volume of
20.9 million tonnes or 75.9
billion units were produ-
RAW MATERIALS AND ced in Europe for the EU
RECYCLING and international food and
Glass is nature’s ideal packag- beverage markets.
ing made from natural resources. “The buoyant demand for
It epitomises the circular econ- glass is a strong signal
of trust from customers in
omy, where the same resources our industry and in glass
remain productive over time. No
matter how many times it is recy-
cled, the permanent nature of
glass means that its quality never
diminishes – glass remains glass.
This makes it ideally suited for
the packaging industry to mini-
mize its environmental footprint.
In addition, the more times glass
is collected and recycled, the
more the industry is achieving a
closed loop production cycle.

CONSUMPTION - GLASS
PACKAGING USE UP BY 39 PER
CENT IN THE LAST 15 YEARS
In the last 15 years, the use
of glass packaging has increased Source: FEVE data
by 39 per cent. Glass container

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