Backed by a founding consortium of 12 glass industry players, Close the Glass Loop is aiming for 90% of glass in Europe to be collected for recyling purposes by 2030, versus 76% today.
The stakeholders involved in the project, a “bottom-up, collaborative, public-private partnership”—built in response to the European Union’s agenda for sustainable growth—include glassmakers, processors, brands, packaging recovery organizations, industry associations and municipalities. “We need to fully seize the advantages offered by glass and recycle more and better, and to this end, we need the active commitment of the whole value chain (...),” noted Michel Giannuzzi, President of the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE), at the online launch event.
Close the Glass Loop is structured around three pillars: Circularity & Innovation, Coordination of National Platforms, and Communication & Awareness-Raising, which will include an annual public event.
In a bid to implement the program at local levels and tackle the structural issues related to collection, the platform will collaborate with partners in each EU member state to “expand source-separated glass collection, improve collection and support pilot projects in large cities and tourist areas and ensure that use, collection and recycling of glass containers is better supported by common guidelines and tools, at all stages of use”. Driving the sourcing of increasingly qualitative cullet is another priority.
In order to provide accurate data and statistics on glass collection and recycling, the platform will publish an Annual Performance Report that will include the rates of glass recycling in each member country as well as a summary of the actions per member state taken every year.
According to the launch statement, the program’s “ultimate goal” is to reach the point where every European member state would operate its own Close the Glass Loop National Action Plan.
