Our CSR Report: What You Need to Know

Here at Verallia UK we are committed to ensuring a sustainable future for both our customers and our employees. We are pioneers of new manufacturing techniques that enhance the circular nature of the glass industry, while also furthering the safety and inclusivity of our workplaces. As a result of our work, we are proud to be called industry leaders. Read on to explore how we worked and continue to work towards a sustainable future with a whistle stop tour of our latest CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) report.

For the full CSR report please follow this link.

Verallia Group at a Glance

During the 12 months of 2022, our 10,000 employees, that are spread across 12 countries, produced 17 billion bottles and jars that amounted to a net income of over €3.35 Billion. Through their hard work, we are now Europe’s leading glass manufacturer, and the world’s third largest producer of glass packaging.

Verallia Group represents a set of deeply engrained values that inform our corporate and staff actions across all areas of our business, and because of these values we believe that we bear a great responsibility when it comes to sustainability. That’s why our purpose is to:

Drive Innovation

Proudly offer progression

Strongly promote the glass circular economy

In order to keep in line with our values and reach our goal of reducing our CO2 emissions by 46% by 2030 compared to 2019, we have made business-wide changes that will allow us and our stakeholders to accelerate sustainability within the glass sector.

Enhancing the Circularity of Glass Packaging

While we know that glass is seen as one of the most circular materials used in everyone’s day-to-day lives, we think that we go beyond current industry standards. That’s why we prioritise the use of cullet within all of our glass products, an ambitious, proactive approach that effects 12 of our specialised centres. The use of cullet not only reduces our products reliance on natural resources such as sand, limestone, and ash, but also requires less energy for melting. In fact, for every 10% of cullet used, our furnace energy usage drops by 2.5% and CO2 emissions drop by 5%.

In response to these figures, our Group Cullet Committee provided continual worldwide investment into cullet innovation, which has resulted in the Verallia Group using 55.7% external recycled cullet in our products. As well as 94,760 fewer tonnes of CO2 emitted in 2022 when compared to 2019.

In addition to this, Verallia Group are raising awareness surrounding glass recycling via specialist programs tailored to each individual community. While we have introduced positive changes in local areas by working with UK recycling banks, we have also increased many international communities chance for a more sustainable future by implementing green initiatives in countries such as Brazil.

“In Brazil, only 25% of glass gets recycled. We need everyone’s help to if we want to increase that percentage. That’s what we’re working on. To increase collection, we’re talking with our customers who are in direct contact with consumers, as well as with recyclers, in particular for our Vidro Vira Vidro programme, whose goal is to set up 1,500 collection bins by 2026.” Étienne Lainé Supply Chain Director, Verallia Latin America

Decarbonising our Activities

Our decarbonisation goals are not new, but they are accelerated as a result of the immense progress that we have made since 2019. In less than 3 years we have reduced our emissions by 10.8%, but in order to achieve net zero standard by 2050, we knew that significant investment in our technology, resources and machinery, was necessary.

In addition to maximising our cullet usage to reduce our carbon output, we have also optimised our energy consumption through the development of low carbon furnaces. Through the use of alternative materials such as calcium carbonate and sodium carbonate, we are optimising our energy consumption by converting all of our furnaces to gas which emits far less CO2.

As we move into 2023, Verallia Group will only be building on these sustainable foundations by investing in new disruptive technology that will drastically reduce our worldwide CO2 emissions. These technologies include a new all-electric furnace and a hybrid furnace that will allow for 80% renewable electricity and 20% natural gas to be used to create our products. Reducing our Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by up to 50%.

25 out of our 32 sites are now ISO 50001 certified for their energy use system, a number which will only grow throughout 2023-2024.

Ensuring a Safe and Inclusive Work Environment for All

All of our policies are people centric here at Verallia Group. When working in such high-risk environments, it’s essential that our employees return home safe and sound at the end of their shift. To elevate our already comprehensive health and safety policies, we choose to focus on ergonomics in 2022, with the aim of improving our staff’s wellbeing at work. After all, a well-designed workstation reduces the risk of accidents and protects the body despite the hazards that come with working in a factory. Our blue book (which details how the best workstation should be achieved) has now become a staple across all of our 32 sites.

In addition to this, we have placed a larger emphasis on employee retention through fostering employee wellbeing across our international locations. Within our home location of the United Kingdom, we have followed Verallia Groups lead by implementing an increased internal communications strategy and increasing the level of training available to employees. As a result of our and other international management teams work, Verallia Group now boasts a 57% employee retention rate, with 54% of employees having a positive view of the company’s concern for their wellbeing.

Stakeholder Relationships at Verallia

We believe that a sustainable future cannot be achieved alone. That’s why we prioritise building long-term relationships with our suppliers and actively encourage them to adopt our values. To build on this historic value, in 2022 Verallia Group revised our Supplier Charter (a compulsory document that all suppliers must sign in order to be awarded contracts) to ensure that all of our partners fully adhere to Verallia Groups ethics and principles. With help from local teams, we were able to get a significant portion of our suppliers, representing 88% of our purchasing spend, to sign the new charter. As this charter not only ensures product quality and safety, but also outlines our supplier’s carbon commitments. Further reducing our overall emissions in the years ahead.

Get in Contact about our CSR Report

If you would like to know more about our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives or want to know how you can get involved with the future of glass manufacturing, get in contact with our Verallia UK team.

 

* Please note that the 2022 CSR Report figures for Verallia Group do not include the United Kingdom