#Reuse , #shortage , #singleuse
⚠️ An unprecedented shortage of glass is slowing down the bottling of wine and jeopardizing the entire distribution chain. Prices are soaring - ranging from 25% to 50% increases- and delivery times are getting longer. Some 2021 vintage wines cannot be bottled before the beginning of the summer, putting some French winemakers in critical situations.
❌ France, the world’s second largest importer of glass containers, buys from Germany, Italy, Poland and also Ukraine, where at least two factories are currently shut down due to the war. But many other factors explain the rarefaction of the materials, which does not only affect the glass but also paper, carton, capsules and oak wood necessary for the manufacturing of the barrels:
👉🏼First, the COVID crisis caused a drop in demand and the shutdown of many glass ovens. Repeated sick leave in the factories and uncertainty about the recovery then disrupted the restarting of the ovens, which could take up to two months.
👉🏼It is then the sharp rise in the price of energy and especially of gas that drove up the production costs of glass, which affect purchase prices of bottles. 👉🏼Finally, the world is facing a more systemic issue of global resource scarcity which is bound to last.
➰ The return of delivery and the development of short circuits also represent a challenge for the food resilience of our territories in the face of variations in global commodity prices. Glass manufacturer Verralia acknowledges in its white paper “Rethinking glass reuse to promote the glass circular economy” that “CO2 emissions represent the biggest challenge facing the glass packaging industry”.
🧠 The reuse of packaging and the removal of disposable everything may well be a relevant and viable solution, provided that this type of model is implemented in a logistically coherent manner. InOff Plastic supports food and beverage manufacturers, cosmetic manufacturers, and others, to switch to circular distribution models based for example on reuse and bulk sales.