Central to Owens-Illinois (O-I) Australia’s high score in the APC's Large Packaging Manufacturer category were the collaborative projects it undertook with key beer customers.
Recycling and producing packaging made from glass, it worked hard to light-weight high volume containers and integrate a higher level of excess green cullet into amber production runs.
Procurement director Gary Combes said the High Performer award recognised O-I's long-term commitment to sustainability and its strategic partnerships with customers.
“As the makers of glass, our team has incorporated sustainability into our business practices for over a century,” Combes said.
“Working in partnership with our customers, we were able to deliver value to our customers while also addressing our need to utilise more of the harder-to-recycle green cullet in production.”
O-I Australia has a whole-of-lifecycle approach to packaging improvement and recovery. It has worked with employees, suppliers, government and the general public to divert 256,571 tonnes of glass packaging from landfill in the 13/14 period.
Recognising issues distinctive to glass packaging, O-I is working with others to improve the separation of coloured glass and find options for the recycling of fine-grind glass fragments.
By working with key customers, O-I was able to identify material savings of 10-15 grams per container through the redesign and light-weighting of beer bottles.
O-I collaborated with customers to develop a process that enabled the incorporation of larger quantities of green glass, a harder-to-recycle colour, into the production of amber bottles. Due to the slight change in colour the green cullet would bring to the amber bottles, and the importance of colour in brand identity, this required ongoing negotiations and understanding from major customers.
