O-I stays the glass recycling course

O-I Glass Inc. has created 35 glass packaging collection sites to facilitate glass recycling for nine communities in North America.

The information was offered as part of the Perrysburg, Ohio-based company’s recently published 82-page 2024 sustainability report, which notes progress toward its sustainability goals "driven by innovation and transformation.”

The 35 glass packaging collection sites have been created by O-I, with some attached to other recycling-related programs, such as the United Way Glass4Good collection program.

Four of the nine communities in which O-I has created glass collection sites have a Glass4Good connection, with the sites combining to produce more than $26,000 in United Way donations and the collection of some 688 tons of recyclable glass.

Through the Glass4Good programs, O-I reports savings of approximately 800 tons of raw materials and more than 230 metric tons of CO₂ emissions.

Overall, O-I reports nearly 145,000 tons of glass collected for recycling driven by 44 closed-loop partnership programs created with customers globally.

In its report, O-I emphasizes setting up recycling loops in geographic regions nearest its glass bottle production plants. Transporting glass for recycling can be fuel intensive and is most cost effective when long-distance trips are minimized.

“We are designing processes and partnerships for both recovery and reuse in the manufacturing process," the company says of recycled-content technology. "We are collaboratively developing positive external and internal relationships, pooling available resources and seeking stakeholder buy in.

“Our roadmap for increasing recycled content focuses on the recycling ecosystems around our plants and making targeted investments to find scalable solutions. Toward this end, we are proactively collaborating with our value chain to reach 100 percent availability of glass recycling in the communities where we operate, of which we have achieved 96 percent.”

Earlier this month, the company introduced its Mobile Glass Recycling Asset (MOGRA) system, designed to creates opportunities to recycle glass into furnace-ready cullet where previously there was no infrastructure.

“O-I's sustainability approach is driven by a pioneering spirit that is in our DNA,” says Randy Burns, chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer for O-I. “The more than 3,800 current patents held by O-I are a testament to our vision to push the boundaries of what is achievable in glass packaging, enabling us to re-invent glassmaking in a way that creates value for all stakeholders.

“For O-I Glass, the road to sustainability is paved by innovation. True sustainability requires marquee transformation and great ambition—from the fuels, processes and technologies we use to the relationships we have with our suppliers, customers, communities and nearly 23,000 employees around the world.”

In addition to recycling, O-I says efforts tied to lightweighting and energy reduction have resulted in more than 24,000 tons of glass and 35,000 tons of CO₂ in resource and emissions savings.

As part of its broader climate strategy, O-I points to increasing recycled content, sourcing renewable energy, becoming more energy efficient and leveraging new furnace technologies as drivers of sustainable progress.

The company has a goal of increasing recycled content to 50 percent as a global average by 2030.

“Globally, our glass products contained an average of 40 percent cullet by tons packed in 2023,” the company says. “O-I holds the patent on a bottle made from 100 percent cullet. In Europe, we have used our innovative spirit to produce containers made of up to 100 percent recycled glass."

O-I Glass, which had revenue of $7.1 billion in 2023, has approximately 23,000 employees worldwide helping operate 68 plants in 19 countries.

The full 82-page 2024 O-I sustainability report is available for download here.