E5 Resource use and circular economy

Impacts, risks and opportunities related to resource use and circular economy

(E5 ESRS 2 IRO-1)

Glass is made from cullet (recycled glass) and raw materials such as quartz sand, soda, dolomite and feldspar. Increasing the recycled content reduces energy consumption during production and lowers the requirement for non-renewable raw materials. Rightweighting and production of reusable bottles are two ways of decreasing the demand for raw materials. Dependency on natural resources can expose the glass packaging industry to reputational risks. At the same time, increasing the cullet content offers a competitive advantage, given that our customers increasingly set targets for recycled content in packaging.

While glass is heavier than other packaging materials, it is also a material that can be recycled in closed loops. Regulatory changes such as those set out in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) pose risks for customised glass packaging due to minimisation targets. At the same time, the PPWR creates opportunities by promoting reusable and lightweight solutions. For Vetropack, opportunities arise from innovations such as thermally strengthened glass.

Alongside the subtopics of resource inflows and resource outflows, we have identified waste as a material sustainability topic. Cullet processing generates waste such as food residues and ceramics. Plastic packaging materials represent another relevant waste stream. If waste is not properly treated and disposed of, it may damage ecosystems. Risks arising from non‑compliance with waste regulations include legal, financial and reputational consequences. Opportunities are linked to efficient material handling and waste reduction, which can lower disposal and treatment costs.

To identify impacts, risks and opportunities related to resource use and the circular economy, we assessed our business model and the entire value chain by applying the ESRS double materiality process. Subject matter experts from the Engineering and Production, Supply Chain, and Integrated Management System (IMS) departments were involved alongside external stakeholders. Vetropack engages with local communities to source cullet, which is collected by municipalities or external service providers.

Policies related to resource use and circular economy

Resource inflows, resource use

(E5-1), (ESRS 2 MDR-P)

Vetropack’s Health, Safety and Environmental Policy defines the objectives and measures for managing environmental responsibility, and for a responsible approach to handling raw materials and resources. The overarching aim is to manage environmental needs and expectations while maintaining and continuing to develop environmental standards. Environmental protection is regarded as a priority throughout the entire lifecycle of Vetropack’s products. The policy requires all employees to act with environmental awareness. The Health, Safety and Environmental Policy is signed off by the CEO, and accountability begins with the Management Board.

The policy ensures compliance with environmental legislation. Regarding resource inflows, the policy supports our goal of increasing the cullet content in our glass containers. Responsibilities for sourcing raw materials and cullet are assigned to the Supply Chain Management team, led by the Chief Supply Chain Officer. The Engineering and Production team calculates optimal resource use for new products. Thanks to collaboration between the Engineering and Production team and the Supply Chain team, we are able to strategically address impacts, risks and opportunities related to resource use and the circular economy. The Chief Technology Officer has developed quality standards for raw materials purchasing to maximise usage of recycled materials and provide guidance for our Supply Chain team.

Vetropack’s Procurement Policy complements our approach to responsible resource use by embedding sustainability in our purchasing practices. An aim of the Procurement Policy is to transition away from non-renewable raw materials towards recycled materials. The policy sets sustainable procurement objectives (such as integrating social and environmental clauses in contracts) and it defines certificates as a focal point. It also supports our goals of increasing recycled content and reducing carbon emissions. Responsibilities for procurement decisions are assigned to the Lead Buyers and the Group Procurement Manager.

No external stakeholders were involved in drawing up the policies described above. The principles of the policies apply to all Vetropack entities, and to our entire workforce. The Health, Safety and Environmental Policy and the Procurement Policy are available to our employees via our internal document management system. The policies are implemented as part of the Clearly sustainable pillar within our Strategy 2030+ and our resource-related targets. The policy texts are distributed to employees with relevant responsibilities, and are translated into local languages to ensure understanding.

The publicly available Code of Conduct reinforces Vetropack’s commitments to environmental responsibility and to minimising its ecological footprint. Further information on the Code of Conduct and its implementation is provided in S1 Own workforce and G1 Business conduct. Our Supplier Code of Conduct requires suppliers to act in an environmentally responsible manner, comply with all applicable standards, laws and regulations, and continuously work to reduce negative environmental impacts. The applicability of the Supplier Code of Conduct and its implementation process are described under G1 Business conduct.

Together, these policies ensure that sustainability objectives are integrated into operations and procurement, and we conduct internal audits to monitor their implementation.

Waste

(E5-1), (ESRS 2 MDR-P)

The Health, Safety and Environmental Policy also applies to the sustainability topic of waste. It guarantees responsible waste management throughout the Vetropack Group and requires compliance with legal provisions. Vetropack’s Integrated Management System (IMS) department coordinates and monitors all related activities, develops binding guidelines, and ensures their implementation. While we have a specific Group procedure and monitoring process at Group level, our site managers are responsible for execution at local level. The policy includes a statement on adhering to legal requirements and taking necessary measures to manage waste and environmental impacts from product use and end-of-life.

Resource outflows

(E5-1), (ESRS 2 MDR-P)

The most relevant policy regarding our products is the Quality and Food Safety Policy. It sets out our overarching intentions for the quality and safety of our glass containers, and includes our obligations to comply with food safety regulations, customer specifications, and food safety standards (FSSC 22000, ISO 22000). The purpose of this policy is to guarantee consumers’ health and safety. As it does not focus specifically on environmental aspects, its scope and applicability are described in S4 Consumers and end-users. Lightweighting is a key element of product development within our product management process, and it provides one of the main triggers for new product development and improvement.

Actions related to resource use and circular economy

Resource inflows, resource use

(E5-2), (E5-4), (ESRS 2 MDR-A)

Vetropack’s most relevant resource inflows are the raw materials used to manufacture our glass containers: quartz sand, soda, dolomite, limestone, and feldspar. To enhance resource efficiency and circularity across our operations and value chain, we implement the Group-wide Performance Improvement Programme (PIP), which focuses on optimising production processes and reducing environmental impacts. This programme also prioritises production planning by focusing on products with long production runtimes. Colour concepts reduce product scrap and improve production efficiency thanks to strategically planned colour changes. Optimising utilisation of furnace capacity is another aspect of the PIP that enables economically and ecologically efficient production. Other key measures of the PIP to lower greenhouse gas emissions in production include increasing the share of recycled glass (cullet content) and reducing the soda content.

Vetropack pursues higher rates of secondary materials through its cullet sourcing strategy, which aims to secure sufficient high-quality recycled glass for new products. Increasing the cullet content reduces the need for non-renewable raw materials such as sand, soda and feldspar, as well as lowering the energy demand for the melting process. This makes an additional contribution to closed-loop glass recycling. Our cullet sourcing strategy takes account of regulatory changes as well as trade and transport barriers for recycled glass, and it includes strategic partnerships. Alongside our Group-wide target of increasing the average recycled content to 70 percent by 2030, each furnace has its own targets for recycled content. Such data is collected from the furnace managers, analysed and reported by the Engineering and Production department, and is then evaluated by our Procurement team and the Sustainability Steering Committee. To ensure the availability of high-quality cullet, we also operate our own cullet treatment plants in Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, and Ukraine. These plants are inspected regularly to determine whether technical optimisations are needed. Cullet treatment plants are key investments that improve our economic and ecological efficiency.

We apply circular design principles to continue reducing the environmental impact of glass packaging. Key concepts here include rightweighting and lightweighting. Rightweighting means that the packaging meets customer requirements for quality, design and functionality without the use of additional material. This makes the glass thinner and lowers its weight. Our lightweighting initiative involves collaboration with customers to review the product portfolio and identify weight reduction potential, without changing filling capacities. These efforts are aligned with PPWR requirements.

We also participate in industry associations with the aims of driving innovation and increasing the circularity of our products. Our most relevant membership is in the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE), which represents the interests of the container glass industry. Vetropack is also a member of the Close the Glass Loop initiative, which aims to attain a glass collection rate of 90 percent in Europe by 2030. Through the Friends of Glass initiative, we support campaigns that raise awareness about the environmental and health advantages of glass, as well as encouraging glass collection and recycling so as to maintain the closed-loop nature of glass packaging. Vetropack also chairs International Partners in Glass Research, a global R&D network and key partner dedicated to increasing and maintaining the competitiveness of glass in the packaging industry.

In 2024/2025, Vetropack Straža d.d. partnered with FEVE as well as a multinational food company and a local municipal service provider to launch a pilot digital campaign in Croatia. The aims of the campaign were to raise awareness and encourage citizens to increase glass collection. This initiative addressed encountered barriers such as misconceptions about recycling and the perceived effort involved. The campaign used messages targeted at the public to show how simple actions can make a difference. Thousands of local households were reached via social media. Follow-up surveys not only confirmed an improvement in recycling knowledge, but also highlighted challenges such as behavioural and infrastructural barriers. The findings will serve as a blueprint for similar initiatives in the future.

Waste

(E5-2), (E5-5), (ESRS 2 MDR-A)

Our waste management procedure follows the waste hierarchy and outlines how waste is handled from generation through to prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal. Key actions focus on preventing waste, increasing reuse and recycling, and minimising recovery and disposal. Expected outcomes include an overall reduction in waste, higher rates of reuse and recycling, and a decrease in recovery and disposal volumes. Whenever possible, we prioritise reusable packaging, including wooden pallets and polypropylene layer pad. Waste from the cullet treatment plants is recycled on site. We also recycle materials such as refractories, moulds, wooden pallets, cardboard, metals and hazardous waste oil. The final option is disposal. Our waste management is aligned with the EU waste hierarchy as follows:

• Prevention: Rightweighting our products, internal recycling of cullet, internal recycling of the dust from the electrostatic precipitators, reduction of the thickness of the packaging foils
• Reuse: Reusable packaging (e.g. wooden pallets and PP layers, Holistic Pallet and Pads Management)
• Recycling: Waste from cullet treatment plant (ceramics, stones, porcelain, fine glass, contaminated glass), refractories, moulds, wooden pallets, cardboard packaging, metals, waste oil
• Recovery: n/a
• Disposal: Waste from cullet treatment plant (dust, plastics)

The majority of Vetropack’s waste is generated during the processing of used glass. This waste consists of foreign substances that adhere to the glass or were incorrectly disposed of in glass containers. Such waste includes food residues, ceramics, packaging made from other materials, or types of glass unsuitable for manufacturing new packaging for the food industry.

Wherever possible, reuse initiatives are in place to address packaging materials such as plastics and wood that originate from the packaging of raw material deliveries. For example, Vetropack operates the Holistic Pallet and Pad Management (HPPM) system to minimise single-use packaging and promote circular practices. When feasible, we favour reusable pallets and pads, and we prefer recyclable foil and cardboard as packaging materials.

To reduce packaging waste, we conducted a trial of foil packaging with 30 percent recycled content. We tested this new packaging material at our sites in Pöchlarn (Austria), Nemšová (Slovakia), Straža (Croatia) and Boffalora (Italy).

When furnaces are refurbished or rebuilt, large quantities of refractory and metal waste are generated. Such materials are handled by external specialist companies.

In the year under review, Vetropack achieved its first certification for an environmental management system. Our Croatian site at Hum na Sutli has been certified to ISO 14001 – a step that will help us standardise our management of waste and other environmental topics going forward. We also aim to certify our other sites.

Resource outflows

(E5-5), (ESRS 2 MDR-A)

Vetropack’s business model promotes the circular economy by providing reusable and recyclable glass packaging. Glass is regarded as a circular packaging material because it is reusable, can be collected and recycled at scale, and is 100 percent recyclable with no loss of quality. Because glass can be recycled almost indefinitely, it supports closed-loop systems and circular economy principles.

Glass is a chemically inert material that is non-toxic and impermeable. This means that it does not degrade or alter product quality over time: consequently, the shelf life of the packaged goods is determined by the contents, because glass itself does not expire. Glass remains chemically unchanged so, for example, it can be reused as many as 50 times in closed loops. The typical reusage rate for reusable glass containers is 20–30 times. However, glass can break and splinter. By nature, it is not repairable.

Vetropack has developed thermally strengthened glass bottles that are around 30 percent lighter than standard bottles, yet more resistant to abrasion. This innovation improves physical resilience and enables longer reuse cycles. These robust bottles are already in use as reusable packaging and thanks to their reduced weight, they help to minimise resource usage as well as logistics effort and outlay. The combination of higher stability, less abrasion, and lighter design advances circularity and supports the growing importance of reusable solutions in line with the PPWR.

Targets related to resource use and circular economy

Resource inflows, resource use, resource outflows

(E5-3), (ESRS 2 MDR-T)

Vetropack aims to achieve an average recycled content of 70 percent in products by 2030. This target was set in 2019 as part of the Clearly sustainable strategic pillar within our corporate strategy.

The recycled content is calculated according to the FEVE guidelines. The figure refers to the average value for all colours combined. This goal helps to increase our circular material use rate and to minimise the demand for raw materials.

In the reporting year, we achieved an average recycled content of 58 percent, representing a slight increase compared to 2024, when the average recycled content was 57 percent.

Waste

(E5-3), (ESRS 2 MDR-T)

Currently, we have not set a quantitative target for waste. However, Vetropack aims to comply with local legislation and – following the waste hierarchy – to reduce waste production, increase reuse, recycling and recovery, and reduce incineration and landfill.

Metrics related to resource use and circular economy

Resource use

(E5-4), (ESRS 2 MDR-M)

There was an increase in the weight of products and technical materials, driven by an overall increase in production. The weight of secondary materials increased for the same reason. Across the Group, recycled content performance improved from 57 to 58 percent compared to the previous year as a result of increased cullet utilisation throughout our operations. Higher cullet incorporation rates, supported by improved cullet availability and more efficient internal processes, contributed to stronger results across all colour groups. The highest cullet content was 77 percent for green glass, while the lowest share was 41 percent for white glass. This reflects the market availability of the respective colours.

Reporting principles: Resource use data include the raw materials (including external cullet) used to produce Vetropack’s glass packaging. The table on raw materials presents all raw materials used to manufacture our glass containers. All resource use data cover our production plants but exclude Bülach, Trezzano sul Naviglio, Zagreb and Bucharest, as no production takes place at these sites. St‑Prex is included in the 2024 data, as glass production was still ongoing. The data presented do not include glass scrap (so‑called internal cullet), which is recycled within Vetropack’s plants (melted and reused to produce new glass containers). Specifications for individual data points are provided in footnotes beneath the table.

Overall raw material usage increased slightly as a result of higher production levels. The higher share of cullet (6 percent) is also reflected in a slight increase in the average cullet content. The increase in feldspar consumption is attributable to the commissioning of larger furnaces in Kyov and Hum na Sutli and the restart of the furnace at our Ukrainian site. At the Chişinău site, increased feldspar was used to enhance product quality.

Waste

(E5-5), (ESRS 2 MDR-M)

Reporting principles: The majority of Vetropack’s waste is generated during the processing of used glass. Waste data are collected at site level by weighing the different waste types and recording the respective treatment methods. Vetropack’s waste figures therefore represent actual measured values in metric tonnes. The data cover all sites (production and offices), with the exception of the leased offices in Zagreb and Bucharest. Non-hazardous waste that is typically recycled (classified as non-hazardous waste diverted from disposal) originates from our cullet treatment plants or is attached to cullet and consists mainly of food residues. Non-hazardous waste also includes cardboard and wooden pallets. Refractories, moulds, metals and hazardous waste are recycled by specialised external companies. Ceramics, dust and plastics attached to cullet are included in the category of non-hazardous waste directed to disposal. Hazardous waste diverted from disposal typically consists of waste oil. Traces of radioactive waste may occur due to refractory materials.

In the year under review, no furnaces were rebuilt or refurbished. As a result, no refractory waste was generated, leading to a slight decrease in several waste metrics compared with 2024, when a furnace at Vetropack Straža was drained, demolished and reconstructed.