PERRYSBURG, Ohio, April 29, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Owens-Illinois, Inc. (NYSE: OI), the world's largest
manufacturer of glass packaging, today released the results of a
comprehensive global study of the complete life cycle of glass
containers. O-I's life cycle assessment (LCA), which measures the
carbon emissions generated by each phase in the life of a glass
container, is foundational to the company's ambitious new
sustainability program.
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Addressing calls from customers, consumer product makers,
retailers and environmental groups for greater clarity in LCA
reporting, O-I's study is the first in the packaging sector to
follow the complete life of a package - from the extraction of raw
materials to the reuse or recycling of the container. The model
used for the study also allowed an assessment of cradle-to-cradle
life cycle data on aluminum and plastic Polyethylene Terephthalate
(PET) containers, enabling the first true comparisons between the
packaging materials.
"Widespread inconsistencies in carbon footprint assessments have
made it nearly impossible to compare the impact of one packaging
material with that of another," said O-I CEO Al Stroucken. "Many assessments used today only
take into account a portion of the full life cycle of a product,
resulting in incomplete and inaccurate data. Customers are
sometimes unknowingly making packaging decisions based on
incomplete data. We knew we needed to take the best and most
complete approach possible to bring clarity to the conversation and
provide an accurate picture of how glass compares with other
packaging materials."
O-I used manufacturing and publicly available data on the
production of aluminum and PET to compare glass with these other
packaging materials. O-I's life cycle assessment model was tested
and validated by AMR Research, a respected firm specializing in
supply chain and sustainability research.
"Our assessment shows that glass clearly has the most favorable
carbon footprint," said Jay
Scripter, O-I vice president of sustainability. "When you
look at the complete life cycle of glass, commonly held
misconceptions are disproved. Food and beverage makers concerned
about sustainability should choose glass."
Additional findings from the O-I life cycle assessment include:
- Transporting finished glass containers comprises only a small
portion - 4 to 5 percent - of the complete carbon footprint of glass
packaging.
- Using recycled glass directly reduces the amount of energy needed
to extract and process raw materials. Every 10 percent of recycled
glass used in production cuts carbon emissions by about 5 percent and
reduces energy use by some 3 percent.
- O-I's current use of recycled glass - an industry leading 36
percent globally - already generates enough energy savings to
completely offset the emissions produced by finished goods
transportation.
O-I has used this study to establish aggressive sustainability
goals, which the company intends to announce next week.
About O-I
Millions of times a day, O-I glass containers deliver many of
the world's best-known consumer products to people all around the
world. With the leading position in Europe, North
America, Asia Pacific and
Latin America, O-I manufactures
consumer-preferred, 100-percent recyclable glass containers that
enable superior taste, purity, visual appeal and value benefits for
our customers' products. Established in 1903, the company employs
more than 22,000 people with 78 plants in 22 countries. In 2009,
net sales were US$7.1 billion. For
more information, visit http://www.o-i.com.