Welcome to the Glass Age

137 and quality of available recycled glass —so that people don’t just recycle but recycle more and better. By recycling more and better, we can progress on new EU 2030 recycling targets and the UN SDGs, achieving sustainable growth opportunities in the Circular Economy. Local by nature: a material that gives back to society Glass is a key resource for achieving a thriving, circular society. Our industry has long been a leader in circularity, and we’re committed to working with our partners throughout the entire ecosystem to meet even tougher targets. We have and will continue to work in partnership with the complete value chain to keep evolving. From energy and raw material suppliers, through waste management stakeholders, to policymakers, NGOs, and civil society at-large, we strive to find any and all approaches to enable and optimize our Circular Economy. The way we see it, a circle isn’t just a shape. It is a symbol of continuity —of permanence. Glass is here to stay, and our goal is to ensure that glass continues to be seen as the leading sustainable material for healthy, reusable and infinitely recyclable packaging. As society moves to a new age of industrialization, the glass industry also remains committed to building on its longstanding cultural heritage in cities, towns, and local communities across the world to drive sustainable growth for society as a whole. Glass production is a local industry by nature —in European countries alone, more than 125,000 people work in the glass packaging industry, spread across 162 manufacturing plants in 23 countries alone. That’s why glassmaking is adapting and innovating to secure the future of the industry —the jobs that come with it and essential sectors that depend on it— and ensure glass is fit for the circular and climate-neutral economy Europe’s 2050 sustainability targets will bring. In an increasingly unstable global environment, making progress against the SDGs is not merely an option: it’s a business and societal imperative for all of us, no matter where we are located. As a result, we are strongly committed to working in partnership with our members, policymakers, academics, all parts of the supply chain and other stakeholders across the glass industry, to identify powerful and practical solutions to strengthen our contribution to sustainability, and to continue to foster responsible production and consumption. As the world continues to strive towards meeting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the container