As businesses and consumers grow more environmentally conscious, the debate between glass and plastic packaging has never been more relevant. The facts are clear: glass is the more sustainable choice, yet government policies, particularly through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, continue to distort the conversation, making sustainability harder to achieve in practice.

The Problem: The True Environmental Cost of Plastic

Despite years of environmental campaigns, plastic waste remains a massive global issue. Unlike glass, which can be infinitely recycled without degrading in quality, plastic weakens with each cycle, ultimately becoming waste that ends up in landfills or polluting our oceans.

The carbon footprint of plastic production is another major concern. The factories we work with at Glassworks International produce glass with 450kg of CO₂ emissions per ton, while PET plastic emits between 2,000-3,500kg per ton – a staggering difference. Yet, despite this clear environmental disparity, plastic remains the dominant packaging material across industries.

Even more troubling is the fact that, while approximately 70% of glass in the UK is recycled, plastic recycling rates remain low and inefficient, leading to further environmental harm.