LCA study confirms positive impact of glass packaging and recycling

The North American glass container industry has taken a pioneering step in producing the first complete and thorough cradle to- cradle life cycle assessment (LCA) ever conducted for this industry.

The LCA, coordinated by the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) and conducted by PE Americas, reaffirms the benefits of glass container recycling for the environment. PE Americas was examining each step from raw material extraction to end-use. The closed-looped cradle-to-cradle LCA collected data from 105 furnaces representing 75 percent of North American glass container production.

The use of recycled glass (cullet) in manufacturing results in a decrease in primary energy demand and reduces carbon emissions. A “cradle-to-cradle” LCA includes the entire cradle-to-grave life cycle of a product while factoring in the recycling of the used product back to its original purpose.

“The study shows increased cullet helps reducing energy emissions, conserve raw materials, extend the life of glass manufacturing furnaces, and save energy.” said Joseph Cattaneo, president of the Glass Packaging Institute  

While other industries claim that the transportation of glass bottles has more of an environmental impact because of the weight of the containers, a key finding of the LCA dismisses this claim. The transportation of raw materials and cullet used in glass production represents less than 4 to 5 percent of the total energy used in the production of container glass.

While each glass container has its own carbon profile, on average, existing recycle rates offset the CO2 burden when shipping foods and beverages across America. The 50 percent recycled content rate will only serve to further reduce carbon emissions.

“The North American glass container industry purposely conducted a cradle-to-cradle LCA to obtain a total picture of our industry’s environmental impact,” said Mr. Cattaneo. “We knew that for an LCA to be useful and to serve as an appropriate benchmark, it had to be cradle-to-cradle. For consumers and retailers to be able to compare the environmental impact of one packaging material to another, all industries should consider conducting complete life cycle analyses. Only then will we have clarity.”

To download the complete report enter our resource section on www.pe-international.com

For more information on the North American glass container industry LCA, please visit www.gpi.org/LCA.