Glass recycling: environmental and economic case

1. Glass recycling: environmental and economic case IMA – November 14, 2012

2. Glass production and recycling The glass production in Europe exceed 50 millions per year. 18 millions tons of glass is collected and reused for the most part in the glass industry. Glass production in Europe (MT) 100% = 50MT Glass recycling rate in Europe (%) 100% = 18MT Container glass Recycled 2% 4% 1% Flat glass Non recycled 1% Glass wool Flaconnage 39% Fiber glass 46% Other glass

3. Glass recycling per applications Container glass is at the forefront of the recycling initiative in Europe. This is the consequence of combined forces of the EU administration, the glass industry, the municipalities and the glass re-processors. Production (MT) Recycled (MT) Recycled material in formulation (MT) Container glass Flat glass Glass wool Fiber glass other glass

4. 31% Container glass recycling rate Container glass recycling follows an irreversible heavy growth trend for the last 20 years. It met the European waste directive 94/12/EC of 60% recycling rate for glass packaging in 2008.

5. 31% Container glass recycling rate The European container glass industry has achieved a record 67 % recycling rate in 2010. However there is still important potential for growth with important differences between Northern and Western Europe Source Feve

6. Container glass recycling - process Glass recycling capacities (11 MT in Europe) an technology step change allowed the production of furnace ready cullet for the glass industry. 100% 90% Cullet intake in oven 25ppm Drying 50ppm 80% Colour sorting 100ppm 70% Drying 60% 200ppm 50% Non-ferrous removal (Foucault) 40% Optical sorting 30% Optical sorting 350ppm Illustrative, for a green glass batch (*): KSP quantities 20% Manual sorting 500ppm Organic removal 10% Ferrous removal 0% Process enhancement : • Quality improvements • Waste reduction

7. Container glass recycling - process Color sorting technologies (develop in 2000) provide new room for additional glass recycling and help balance the input (glass collected) with the output (industry need). Cullet intake per color Production (MT) Cullet intake (%) Production (MT) 66% 34% 21% 20% Green Flint Amber Dead leaf

8. Sibelco Green Solutions Sibelco Green Solutions is operating a dense network of 9 plants producing over 1MT of cullet per year. The company is at the forefront of innovation and the only company able to sort of the four main color. Most advanced in color sorting Dense network of 9 plants 2 new plants (Venice and Antwerp) added in 2012 and 2013

9. Container glass - the environmental case Glass is the only material that can be recycled without loss of materials. This later point associated with the other advantages of glass makes it the greenest packaging.

10. Container glass - the economic case As batch raw material : cullet has economic advantages over minerals. €15 to €20 savings per ton glass produced, compared to cost of raw minerals batch ranging from €65/T to €90T.

11. Conclusion • 18 millions of glass collected in Europe. • Glass is the only material that can be recycled infinitely without loss of material or functionalities. • The container glass collection and recycling have seen a dramatic acceleration over the last 20 years. • A win – win – win equation for the community, the glass producers and eventually the consumers. • A step change in glass processing (i.e color sorting) enabled to maximize the glass recycling in the re-melt industry. • The main advantages are less landfill (waste disposal) and a decrease in energy consumption that led to 15€ to 20€ per ton saving. • The success of the container glass recycling should pave the way for government, industrials and recyclors to join their efforts in developing a similar approach for the other type of glass.