Year of Glass Delivered Celebration, Innovation

As 2022, aka the International Year of Glass (IYoG), comes to a close, it’s the ideal time to reflect on the celebration of IYoG as well as the glass packaging achievements that occurred during the year.

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2022 an International Year of Glass in recognition of the material’s role in fostering scientific and cultural advancements.

Worldwide IYoG events throughout the year celebrated the important role of glass in society, with a view to technology, industry, art, design, history, materials science, and sustainability.

Among the many educational programs and museum events held throughout the year were a Spanish exhibition highlighting glass and the circular economy, an Australian exhibition exploring glass as a contemporary architectural element, and a US concert inspired by the art of glass blowing.

In parallel with IYoG’s celebrations, glass packaging vendors and companies that use glass packaging continued to make technical and sustainability advancements throughout 2022.

The sustainability advantage of glass, specifically its infinite recyclability and circular nature — the ability to make a new glass bottle from an old one — informed many of the glass packaging developments.

A new poll from the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) adds a consumer perspective to the year’s progress in glass packaging sustainability: 92% of the poll’s participants said they would feel positively toward a company that offered more glass packaging, because of its lower environmental impact than other materials.

Fully 73% of participants wished more companies offered their food and beverage products in glass packaging, and 58% said knowing that glass was infinitely recyclable could make them change their purchasing behavior.

The pharmaceutical and spirits industries have been particularly productive this year vis-à-vis glass packaging advancements. Start the slideshow to learn about these six projects.