Glass packaging recycling rate in the European Union (EU) is steady at 74%, a latest industry data report by The European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) has revealed.
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.
FEVE Secretary General Adeline Farrelly said: “Our industry is mobilized to fill the gap to 100% EU glass recycling because recycled glass is our most important raw material.
“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 today, real recycling is a balancing act between developing materials that are recyclable, and markets that are open to use recycled material.
FEVE public affairs manager Jean-Paul Judson said: “More and more effort is being put at European level to use recycled material for new food packaging.
“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”.
