Glass packaging needs resurgence says Somani

Sanjay Somani, vice president and managing director, Hindustan National Glass and Industries (HNGIL) expressed a need of upturn for glass packaging while speaking at IIP's national packaging conference in New Delhi.

20 Jan 2014 | By Rushikesh Aravkar

"Indian container glass market is estimated to be around USD 1.1 bn and is poised to grow at 13% CAGR driven by increasing urbanisation, low per capita glass consumption and attractive cost economics due to refillable nature of glass," said Somani.
 
"310.5 bn units of glass packaging was sold through retail in 2012. It has seen 1.6% retail volume growth over 2011-12," said Somani.
 
Somani spoke about the ill effects of PET and Tetra packaging in regards to human health and environment and poised glass to be a better choice for packaging.
 
Citing a life cycle assessment study on container glass conducted by All India Glass Manufacturers' Federation, Somani said, "In India, only glass is being re-used (30%). Glass is by far the most eco-friendly material while packaging is concerned."
 
Somani spoke about how HNGIL has reduced 7% weight of selected bottles under light weighting initiatives in 2012-13. "This has resulted into savings of over 2000 tonnes of CO2," added Somani. 
 
"Increased recycling and reduced weight environmental effects of glass can be reduced by 50%," concluded Somani.