Glass packaging: trends
Data and facts of a sector that has been able to renew itself over the years, focusing on innovation and personalization.
Thanks to effective communicative action, tied in with a considerable product innovation, the glassworks have managed to reverse the progressive downtrend that featured throughout the eighties: shapes and colors proliferate, bottles and flasks are now personalised according to the type of product or brand, whether it is a question of beverage containers, perfumes or packed vegetables.
Even under the environmental aspect much progress has been made in terms of downgauging and lightening the weight of the containers, while obviously maintaining the fundamental characteristics of protection.
Glass is a material that is 100% recyclable and can be recycled many times over, which entails a considerable saving of raw materials taken from quarries and mines required in production: it is estimated that 100 kg of glass can be obtained from 100 kg of recycled cullet, while 120 kg of raw material is required to make 100 kg of new glass.
The market
The selection of glass packaging is very varied, both from the point of view of the formats that for areas of use. The “classic” classification includes bottles, jars, flacons and tubular glass packaging, ie ampoules and vials.
In 2015 the glass packaging sector (empty packaging) registered a growth of 2.5% in production in terms of volume. The increase in production was due mainly to the increase in exports (+ 6.1%). Imports also finished the year with a significant increase (+ 6.8%). Apparent use shows an increase of 2.7%.
Taking glass packaging as a whole 88.8% is constituted by bottles, 6.3% by jars, 4% by hollow glass flacons and 0.7% by tubular glass vials.
Sectorial uses
Bottles and jars are used mainly for liquids and packaged food.
Flacons which include jars, vials and bottles, are used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics/perfumery sectors.
Tubular glass packaging is mainly used in the pharmaceutical industry.
Bottles. Examining marketed hollow glass bottles, they are used in many different sectors, but the main one remains the area of alcoholic beverages, that accounts for 65.2%.
Looking at alcoholic beverages, wine holds the lion’s share (49%), however where the glass bottle is challenged by other types of packaging, in particular the “brick” and bag-in-box.
Glass is much used in packaging beer, where the bottle though has to compete with the can and the keg. The bottle remains “sovereign” in spirits and vermouth.
Another field of use of the glass bottle is that of soft drinks (17.4%), where mineral water accounts for 9%, though it continues to lose ground to the PET bottle.
Another important area of use is that of olive oil (6%), where the glass bottle clearly predominates on the domestic market while, as regards exports, the tin can and PET bottle are tough competitors.
Although it has to face the competition of converter flexible laminates and PET bottles, glass bottles are much appreciated by the fruit juice, vinegar, the tomato juice and cordial sectors.
Jars 47% of the glass jars are intended for packaging vegetable preserves, including ready-made sauces, products in oil and pickles.
23.5% are used for packaging babyfood, 5% for the fish preserve sector. The rest are used in a whole range of other food products (olives, spices, jam, sauces, etc.).
In these areas, the main competitors of the glass jar are the aluminium and steel can, although in recent times the polylaminate cardboard carton and flexible polylaminate converter bags have come into their own (it is expected that in the coming years, the latter two categories, will become the most formidable competitors of the glass jar).
Flacons and hollow glass. Flacons feature in two main sectorial areas, cosmetics-perfumery and pharmaceuticals: the former absorbs around 83%, the latter 15% (the remaining 2% is for other areas of use).
As regards the glass tube for packaging, the main area of use is the pharmaceutical industry (with an over 80% share).
Plinio Iascone
Istituto Italiano Imballaggio
