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Consumers Glass was one of the first Canadian companies to adopt a formal environmental policy and program. Its Product Stewardship Program, instituted in 1990, ensures the incorporation of environmental issues into daily business activities. Product Stewardship is the acceptance by the company of life-cycle responsibility for its products, processes and packaging.
While this program affects every aspect of operations at Consumers Glass, its single most important element is the purchase and use of post-consumer, post-use recycled glass. This is the focus of the company's work with governments, industry, the recycling community and the public to set up collection systems, and training and education programs that facilitate and encourage the recycling of container glass.
A recycling tradition at Consumers Glass
Glass is the ideal environmental package: it is 100 percent recyclable and can be recycled over and over again to make new containers without any loss of quality. These characteristics ensured an early role for recycling in Consumers Glass manufacturing processes. Since the Company's founding in 1917, in-house scrap has always been put back into the production process.
Consumers Glass also purchased post-consumer recycled glass for many years. With new curbside collection recycling programs, such as the Ontario Blue Box program introduced in 1986, the recovery of post-consumer glass greatly increased. Glass suitable for recycling into new containers reached a high in 1994. Consumers purchased 240,362 tonnes and achieved a recycled content of 34%. In 1995, Consumers Glass bought 207,781 tonnes of recycled glass and averaged a 31% recycled glass content in its products.
Canada's National Packaging Protocol
Consumers Glass is committed to the policies contained in the Canadian Code of Preferred Packaging Practices, which states: "all packaging will be designed, manufactured, filled, used and disposed of in such a way as to minimize its effect on the environment and to achieve maximum diversion from disposal options through application of the Three 'R's': Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle."
As Canada's only manufacturer of glass packaging, Consumers Glass is doing more than its part to achieve the National Packaging Protocol (NAPP) goal of reducing the amount of packaging sent for disposal. The most recent data compiled by Canada in 1992 showed that glass had met and exceeded the first NAPP target of 20% less packaging sent to disposal, compared to the base year of 1988, with a 27% reduction in the amount of container glass sent for disposal. This means glass is well on its way to meeting the next targets of a 35% reduction by 1996 and 50% by the year 2000. Consumers Glass has as its own long-term objective a recycled content of 50% or more by 2000.
Progress depends on stable supplies and customer support
A constant source of supply is necessary to meet this goal. Glass production requires a delicate chemical balance, which cannot be maintained when the amount of post-consumer recycled glass used in the manufacturing process continually fluctuates. The future progress of glass recycling depends to a large extent on the recycling industry and the public providing a sustained, reliable and consistent source of supply.
Customer support is another key factor, since higher levels of recycled glass can have some minor effects on glass colour and characteristics in new glass bottle and jar packaging.
Glass-making technology adapted to use more recycled glass
The recycled content of new glass packaging can be as high as 80 to 85%. Some Consumers Glass plants are now averaging levels of above 65%. The use of recycled glass has required a multi-million dollar investment in enhanced facilities for recycled glass at all plants and technological modifications to the manufacturing process. Consumers formerly purchased its recycled glass, called "cullet", direct from recyclers. It now purchases all of its cullet from processors of recycled materials. At present, Consumers Glass' capacity to use recycled glass is roughly double the amount supplied by recycling programs.
"Lightweighting" to use less glass in container production
Consumers Glass is also committed to "reduce" as well as to "reuse and recycle" its products. In the container weight reduction program, engineers and technical staff review all new glass containers and those coming up for renewal of moulds to see if the amount of materials used can be decreased without any compromise of quality. "Lightweighting" -- decreasing the container wall thickness -- has been made possible through new glass forming technology installed at Consumers plants.
Since 1980, the average weight of a glass container has been reduced by 10%. Consumers' engineers are now working toward the goal of reducing the overall weight of all glass food and beverage containers by an additional 10% over the period 1988 to 2000.
Consumers' proactive recycling program
Consumers Glass is in the forefront of recycling efforts in Canada. In conjunction with its Product Stewardship Program, Consumers has adopted an Environmental Strategy which has as its main goal the development of a glass recycling capability that spans the country. The Environmental Strategy includes many initiatives to actively promote glass and other recycling efforts across the nation, working with environmental agencies and governments, recyclers, customers and the public.
Consumers Glass has a representative on the National Task Force on Packaging Protocol (NAPP). The company fully supports NAPP objectives and has set its own targets to meet or exceed these objectives.
Consumers Glass has been instrumental in the development of effective multi-material recovery systems, such as the introduction of the Blue Box recycling program to over three million households representing more than 80% of the population of the province of Ontario; and the Quebec Selective Collection Program serving 4.8 million people or 75% of Quebecers.
Consumers Glass financially supports and has a member on the Board
of Directors of CSQ (Collecte Sélective Québec).
Recycled glass is a direct substitute for virgin materials, and Consumers
Glass has helped to ensure that the market for contamination-free, colour
sorted glass is long term and stable. Recycled glass is also a commodity,
the demand for which is rapidly growing as evidenced by its listing on
the Chicago Board of Trade Recyclables Exchange. Its value is thus determined
by international market conditions.
Consumers Glass has produced three videos on glass recycling. "Care and Be Careful," for students, and "Glass Containers, Recycling it Right", for recycler training purposes, were recently developed. The third, "Glass Works", describes glass recycling in a curbside recovery system. Thousands of copies have been distributed across Canada and internationally.
A twice-times yearly newsletter, Glass Works, provides over 7,500 readers, educators, recyclers, government, the media and many other interested persons with regular updates on glass recycling and other environmental and policy issues. It is also posted on the Internet at: http://www.glassworks.org.
A technical manual on glass recycling published by Consumers Glass, Glass Recycling in Ontario, covers the specific criteria for operating a successful curbside glass recycling program. The manual has been widely distributed throughout Ontario and Canada.
To help develop educational programs in the new field of recycling, Consumers Glass has sponsored and provided technical assistance for the Secondary Resource Management Technical Specialist course at The Centre for Environmental Training, Niagara College, St. Catharines, Ontario.
The Company is the founding sponsor for the Annual Conservation Video Contest to promote awareness of the importance of ecological literacy, innovation and communication for Canadian students. The contest is open to students in schools across Canada, 1999 marks the seventh year of Consumers Glass' support.
Consumers Glass is working with its customers to promote the recycling of glass containers. For example, The Canadian Association of Distillers cooperates with recycling efforts by recommending the mobius loop "recyclable" symbol be placed on the bottom of bottles for all its members' brands.
Consumers Glass promotes recycling through its participation in exhibitions, conferences, environmental seminars and programs. Its recycling promotional program includes exhibition booths, displays and special presentations on glass recycling.
Copyright ® 1999, Glass Works
