The European glass manufacturers’ trade association has called for mandatory separate collection schemes in order to realise circular economy ambitions, but says that reuse targets are ‘counter-productive’.

The European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) published the industry’s position on the European Commission’s Circular Economy Package this week (18 April), with enforced separate collection on its wishlist alongside targets focused on recycling, and acknowledgement of the value of permanent materials.

‘From Target Policy to Circular Economy: Glass Packaging Pioneering the Circular Economy Business Model’ emphasises the importance of recognising the ‘superior value’ of permanent materials such as glass, which can be endlessly recycled without losing any of their intrinsic properties. It states that there should be a specific strategy addressing permanent materials under the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP).

The paper suggests that permanent materials can effectively replace raw materials in production processes and offer a stable, long-term perspective for resource-efficient manufacturing.

FEVE claims that mandatory separate collection schemes are essential for a circular business model, to ensure that recycled material is fully reintroduced into manufacturing. It suggests that the bottle bank is the best practice scheme of separate collection, and should be implemented across all EU member states.

Reuse targets ‘counter-productive’

Glass has one of the highest recycling targets for 2025 and 2030, at 75 per cent and 85 per cent respectively. On average, 73 per cent of all post-consumer glass packaging is collected for recycling throughout the EU, and about 90 per cent of it is actually recycled into new bottles and jars, according to FEVE.

However, the body says that the Circular Economy Package ‘should not be a statistical race to meet targets’ and that those for glass should be reassessed to ensure better quality recycled glass. Further measurement points should be introduced, it says, to provide a fuller picture of the recycling value chain. Introducing new measurements of weight of material collected, weight of material after sorting, weight of material effectively recycled, it says, would support member states in their transition to a real circular economy and raise awareness on gaps and weaknesses in the recycling value chain.

However, FEVE also states that setting targets for ‘preparing for reuse’ or ‘reuse’ of packaging in the Packaging & Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) is ‘counter-productive on several levels’, arguing that refillable systems create distortions and barriers to the movement of goods in the internal market, while the large investment required creates a market barrier for small and medium-sized enterprises, who are ‘forced to either invest massively or share the same packaging design with their competitors to pool resources’. A reuse system, it says would divert public investments away from recycling, putting at risk the many public-private partnerships that underpin the recycling value chain.

Glass ‘must be put at the heart of the circular economy’

The body, the 60 members of which produce over 20 million tonnes of glass per year, says that ‘an ambitious circular economy policy means investing in recycling infrastructure throughout the EU, where there are important opportunities for job creation in recycling and further manufacturing of glass’. FEVE says it will be taking this discussion forward with the European Commission, member states and Members of the European Parliament to ensure a legislative and policy environment that ‘maintains Europe’s leading position for glass production and recycling, in the context of increasingly competitive global markets’.

Vitaliano Torno, President of FEVE, said: “For the circular economy to function and for all member states to meet their targets, it is fundamental that separate collection schemes become mandatory across the EU to increase the quantity as well as the quality and safety of recycled materials.

“Materials that can maintain their properties during their repeated use and that can be recycled over and over again must be put at the heart of the EU circular economy.

“Glass is a permanent material that is 100 per cent and endlessly recyclable without any degradation of its intrinsic properties no matter how many times it is recycled. This allows for important raw material and energy savings with major benefits for the environment and the economy.”

The full position paper can be read at FEVE’s website.