Made in Glass is the new logo launched by the European glass industry to highlight the benefits of this material to consumers. Presented in Brussels at the 12th European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) on 21-29.11.20, it will be applied to all products packaged in glass. Jars and jars, bottles and bottles.
A logo from creative crowdsourcing
The logo is the result of a year-long collaborative effort between industry, designers, utulizers and consumers. To create a recognizable symbol representative of the qualities of glass containers as idealpackaging for food, supplements, cosmetics and medicines. Due to several virtues:
– chemical safety, due to the absence of migration of polymers and other substances that is typical of plastic materials instead,
– impermeability, to liquids and pathogenic microorganisms,
– sterilizability,
– Ideal storage of food, beverages and other products,
– transparency, which can be graduated to protect photosensitive products from infrared rays without giving up the ability to see them.
Environmental impact of glass
Also favorable is theenvironmental impact of glass, which unlike plastic:
– is composed of naturally abundant minerals-sand, sodium carbonate, recycled glass, and limestone,
– does not release or result in the release of dangerous micro- and nanoparticles into the environment.
Lansink’s scale, the basis of the circular economy, has important applications in glass. First of all, thanks to packaging reuse opportunities, which must be revived through deposit with security. But also because of the possibility of its 100 percent and infinite recycling, with a production cycle that takes place in a single step within the same plant.
The bulk of glass bottles and jars collected through separate collection are used for the production of new packaging in a closed-loop system. Every time a bottle or jar is recycled into new containers, energy and CO2 emissions are saved, as well as raw materials. Glass recycling in the EU saves more than 12 million tons of raw materials and more than 7 million tons of CO2, equivalent to that emitted by 4 million cars.
The voice of consumers
The launch of the new glass assurance label was preceded by a survey of 10,000 European consumers in 13 countries conducted by market research firm InSites Consulting in 2020.
Glass is increasingly liked by consumers. In fact, more than 9 out of 10 Europeans (91 percent, 96 percent in Italy) consider it the best container for storing food and drinks (up 11 percent from 2016).
Reasons for preferences
Driving consumer choices are material characteristics. In detail:
– 42 percent buy more glass products because they believe it is more recyclable than other packaging,
– 33% choose it because they consider glass better in preventing food contamination and preserving health,
– 31 percent believe that glass offers greater health and safety guarantees,
– 30% choose glass because it causes less pollution in the natural environment.
A large share of respondents (27 percent) then complained about the unavailability of products from some of their favorite brands in glass packaging.
Industry relaunches
‘This symbol marks the first milestone in our journey of working with customers and brands to provide packaging solutions that respond to a growing consumer focus on sustainability.
Our ultimate goal is that consumers across Europe will be able to find this new label on all glass products on the shelves, whether they are preserved foods, beverages or olive oil, because choosing glass means creating a more sustainable future.’ (Michel Giannuzzi, president of the European Container Glass Federation, FEVE).
The new glass packaging logo is immediately adopted by Bonduelle, a leader in plant-based foods.
‘This new logo represents environmental and health protection. It will be an invaluable tool for coordinating our efforts with those of our packaging suppliers, bringing together the concerns of businesses and the public to fully engage in sustainability.’ Arnaud Warusfel, Packaging Development Manager at Bonduelle .
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
