Can the future of glass packaging be carbon-neutral?

Truly sustainable packaging doesn’t just need to be endlessly recyclable without loss of quality; it also has to meet consumer expectations and brand needs. Glass is a unique packaging material because it meets all these requirements. With the ever-increasing use of recycled glass, the industry can reduce emissions while also delivering on health and safety requirements, a long shelf life, premiumisation options and consumer experience. Glass is also ideally suited to low-emission reuse models — models that are becoming increasingly popular among brands and retailers.

Higher recycling rates mean lower carbon emissions

For every tonne of glass that is recycled, around 580 kg of CO₂ is saved throughout the supply chain. This is the rationale behind the Close the Glass Loop initiative, launched in 2020 to help the sector meet its climate neutrality commitments by collecting more and better glass. The initiative brings together players from all parts of the glass collection and recycling value chain, with the aim of raising glass recycling collection rates in the EU to 90% by 2030 — an ambitious commitment that will be underpinned by a new type of furnace marking the shift to renewable energy.

The Furnace for the Future: powering the shift to renewable energy

The Furnace for the Future (F4F) is a major strategic initiative to fully decarbonise glass production, jointly championed by 19 independent companies that account for more than 90% of total glass container production in Europe. The initiative aims to trial a new furnace technology that is 80% powered by renewable electricity while still producing all types of glass from post-consumer cullet, potentially leading to CO₂ savings of more than 50%.

While electric melting already works for small-scale furnaces producing clear glass with limited recycled content, the F4F is designed to make it work for much larger furnaces, for all glass colours and using high amounts of recycled glass. Existing electric furnaces typically produce around 100 tonnes per day; the ambition is to scale this up to 350 tonnes per day.

Sectoral decarbonisation will require investment

To achieve carbon neutrality, the glass packaging industry needs to keep investing in R&D, scalable technologies and a significant energy transition — and these sectoral initiatives need the support of public authorities. The Furnace for the Future, for instance, is seeking backing from an EU grant under the Innovation Fund of the Emission Trading Directive.

More broadly, decarbonisation is closely tied to the availability and price of renewable energy sources: if renewable energy prices were lower and more evenly priced across geographical areas, the industry could more readily invest in decarbonisation initiatives and quickly scale up promising technologies right across Europe.

It’s an ambitious call to transform an industry. But by tackling its biggest challenge — CO₂ emissions — the sector can offer a future-proof packaging that is healthy, circular and climate-neutral, one that can sustainably meet growing consumer demand.