The use of glass packaging has increased by 49% in three years in Turkey, which GCA believes is partially due to increasing environmental awareness.

In recent years, the demand for healthy, sustainable and recyclable packaging has been increasing with environmental awareness globally.

At this point, glass stands out as the most preferred packaging, especially as it does not contain chemicals and keeps products fresh.

According to the research conducted by the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) this year, 65% of consumers find the quality of a glass packaged product higher and reliable.

In addition, while there has been a 28% increase in the use of glass packaging in Europe in the last three years, it takes attention that this rate is at 49% in Turkey.

The sensitivity of the new generation to environmental problems and the awareness of healthy living enable them to turn to glass packaging when purchasing products.

However, although consumers have a positive perception of glass packaging products in Turkey, there is a serious lack of recycling of glass packaging.

GCA aims to increase recycling rates as well as spreading the natural, renewable and sustainable features of glass to the society.

GCA General Manager, Dr Abdullah Gayret, said: “Increasing environmental awareness around the world affects consumers' packaging choices. Especially in 2023, thanks to the sustainable and recyclable qualities of glass, we see that it has experienced the prominence it deserves in the packaging industry.”

He continued that GCA carries out multiple studies based on sustainability, and works in accordance with ISO 9001 and BRC/IoP standards for quality and safe production.

He said GCA also prioritises an environmentally friendly approach in its production facilities through its equipment selection.

He said: “In technology and material development, we focus on lightweighting solutions in glass packaging.

“We work on lighter glass packaging solutions while maintaining mechanical durability with R&D projects carried out both within our own organisation and with various universities.”

One example is GCA’s EKOMAT project, which aims to increase the awareness of recycling in society while recovering beverage packaging.

The project recovered approximately 2.1 million beverage packages in one year.

GCA also works with Close the Glass Loop, and plays a global role in FEVE, which works for the development of the glass packaging sector in Europe.