Glass Packaging in Demand Among Consumers
Environmental awareness has made glass as a material for packaging much more popular with consumers in Europe. At least, this is the result of a study by the “Friends of Glass” and the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE). The most important results.
Buyers are increasingly turning to glass packaging. This is the quintessence of a survey conducted by the market research agency InSites Consulting among more than 10,000 consumers throughout Europe, commissioned by the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) and the “Friends of Glass” initiative. The survey questioned attitudes to beverage and food packaging made of different packaging materials and whether these attitudes have changed in the past three years. After all, half of the survey participants buy more glass packaging (“Buy more glass”: 51 per cent), while plastic packaging is avoided more (“Buy less plastic”: 57 per cent).
Glass is considered particularly environmentally friendly
The initiators of the study attribute the results to the growing awareness of the high recyclability of glass and its environmental compatibility. After all, two out of five consumers consciously choose glass because they consider it more recyclable than other packaging materials. According to the study, glass is consistently considered the most environmentally friendly packaging material. For example, 43 per cent of those surveyed said that they favour glass in terms of avoiding packaging waste.
Collection rates are rising
The results also show that the vast majority of consumers recycle glass packaging: 84 per cent of those surveyed collect glass separately, with as many as eight out of ten survey participants stating that closures and lids are disposed of separately. “It is encouraging to see that glass recycling is on the rise throughout Europe with a collection rate of 76 per cent,” says Johann Overath, Chief Executive of the German Glass Industry Association. After all, the aim is to achieve a collection rate of 90 percent and complete recycling of the collected glass packaging by 2030.