SCHOTT, a renowned player in the specialty glass industry, is making significant strides towards sustainability with its new pilot projects aimed at recycling glass-ceramics and pharmaceutical packaging. This initiative is part of SCHOTT's broader vision to become the world's first climate-neutral specialty glass manufacturer by 2030. By reintegrating used products into the production process, SCHOTT is addressing both ecological and economic challenges.
The company, in collaboration with pilot customers and partners, is exploring ways to recycle used glass-ceramic cooktop panels and pharmaceutical packaging. These efforts are crucial as the current lack of a legal framework poses a significant barrier to establishing a circular economy. Currently, no specific regulations exist for the collection of specialty glass by type, which SCHOTT aims to overcome through these pilot projects.
Dr. Jörn Besinger, who coordinates SCHOTT's circular projects, emphasizes the company's commitment to transforming into a sustainable entity. By recycling used specialty glass and glass-ceramics, SCHOTT seeks to conserve valuable raw materials in line with the EU Green Deal's objectives. The European Union's Green Deal aims to foster a sustainable Europe by protecting the climate, environment, and resources, reducing waste, and recycling raw materials. This initiative also aims to decrease dependence on raw materials from other regions.
For decades, SCHOTT has utilized cullet, or recycled glass, as a raw material in its production processes. This practice has significantly reduced waste, conserved resources, and lowered energy consumption and emissions. Over 90% of the glass cullet is reintegrated into the glass melt within SCHOTT's internal recycling loop. Additionally, SCHOTT collects broken glass from customers, provided it is sorted by type, to further enhance its recycling efforts.
Recycling is critical for recovering valuable raw materials, such as lithium, a key component in glass-ceramic cooktop panels and electric car batteries. By responsibly disposing of old cooktop panels, SCHOTT aims to retain lithium within the production cycle, thus addressing the scarcity of this light metal.
Despite the general ease of recycling glass, technical challenges remain, especially for glass-ceramics and specialty glass, which require higher melting temperatures and stringent quality evaluations. SCHOTT is at the forefront of researching these challenges through its pilot projects, aiming to set the foundation for a circular economy.
However, the legal framework for specialty glass recycling remains underdeveloped. In Germany and at the EU level, there are no specific requirements for the separate collection of specialty glass. This results in glass-ceramic cooktop panels being mixed with other appliances at recycling centers, leading to the loss of valuable raw materials like lithium.
SCHOTT estimates that by 2030, approximately three million glass-ceramic cooktop panels, equating to 10,000 metric tons of glass-ceramics, will end up in German landfills. Dr. Frank Heinricht, Chairman of the Board of Management at SCHOTT AG, urges German and European policymakers to establish better conditions for a functioning circular economy, as envisioned by the EU Green Deal and Germany's National Circular Economy Strategy.
To address these challenges, SCHOTT is focusing on technological development through its pilot projects. The company has been a pioneer in innovation with its CERAN® glass-ceramic cooktop panels and is now setting up a new recycling cycle with pilot customers and partners from the waste management industry. The goal is to recycle glass-ceramic from used cooktops and integrate the recycled material into new products without compromising quality.
In the pharmaceutical sector, SCHOTT is running a pilot project where a major healthcare company returns unused vials for medicines. These vials are then recycled into new, high-quality glass tubing for pharmaceutical packaging. This initiative aims to increase the share of recycled raw materials in the industry.
Dr. Jörn Besinger invites customers to collaborate on developing product-specific recycling solutions to progress in the circular economy. Through these efforts, SCHOTT aims to gradually increase the use of recycled raw materials in its production processes.
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