Verallia pledges to act on glass reuse
With the packaging waste problem continuing to grow at speed around the world today, focusing on packing reuse as part of the solution is an urgent issue.
Verallia, Europe's leading and third largest producer of glass packaging for food and beverages, is pleased to announce the publication of its white paper “Reimagining reuse for the circular economy of glass: Stakeholder Perspectives Series” which explores the challenges and opportunities around reuse through the testimonies of leading experts.
To deepen the debate, the Group launched the first “Reuse Lab” event, a forum to accelerate the development of local and sustainable glass packaging reuse solutions.
To help make reuse a viable solution, Verallia is making three major commitments to action: to push for experimentation, to partner to stimulate innovation, and to share experiences and best practices.
The “Reuse lab” will help facilitate the implementation of the pilot project in France by 2025 and, more generally: gather thoughts and compare points of view; learn from experiences in the field around the world, in order to identify what works best; and accelerate the implementation of local and sustainable reuse solutions and consider their duplication on a larger scale whenever possible.
Michel Giannuzzi, chairman and CEO of Verallia, commented: “The biggest challenge for the glass packaging industry today is our CO2 emissions. On the journey towards carbon neutrality, we also need to be much smarter still about the recycling and reuse of glass. We must drive a dual-track approach; always looking for means to reduce emissions, while looking for the most effective ways to reuse and recycle our products. Because reuse is part of the answer for the future of the glass industry, we need to understand the complex challenges: from changing consumer behaviours and relevant product design, to the logistics of glass collection and cleaning, and developing new business models for reuse in different policy environments across our markets. Our core belief is that glass packaging reuse can only be a viable model if it is understood and treated as a systemic challenge, thus prompting us to work closely with all stakeholders in the entire ecosystem.”
Image: Michel Giannuzzi, CEO of Verallia leads the Reuse lab initiative.
