How was Dry January for you? Are your nerves shredded to pieces? Did you manage to resist temptation for an entire month?
For those who do not know, Dry January is a public health campaign in the UK that urges people to abstain from alcohol for a month.
It is an opportunity to give up alcohol after the excesses of the festive season in December.
It is becoming more popular with an estimated 4.2 million people in the UK took part this year.
I am not one of them though.
Not because I am partial to a drop of the strong stuff.
No, my worry is what impact this has on glassmakers?
Alcohol and glass are intrinsically linked. Surely if such a large number of the population decides to give up drinking this will have a side effect on glass.
By taking part in Dry January am I inadvertently harming the industry I report on?
Thriving
Despite my niggling worries, the sector is thriving.
Since our last issue in December there have been a number of furnace announcements and new investments around the world.
Business is booming partly because of the backlash against plastic.
As you would expect, the plastic industry has reacted to this with a range of environmental initiatives of its own.
For example, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste is formed of global companies such as BASF, Clariant, Dow and ExxonMobil.
Similarly, Pepsico has re-invented its plastic packaging policy to recycle more of the material.
Worryingly, Coca-Cola recently claimed glass was worse for the environment than plastic.
The accusation was quickly rebutted by British Glass, but it highlights the work the plastics industry has been doing to change public perception of the material.
Glass is easily recyclable and doesn't deteriorate no matter how many times it is recycled.
Unlike Dry January, I’ll drink to that.
