Germany Packaging Machinery Market Research Report - PMMI

Packaging
material made
of paper and
cardboard
55%
Production
value 2000:
13.2 billion €
(Source: Statistisches Bundesamt)
Paper processing production
Other
stationery
8%
Labels
7%
Bookbinding
products
2%
Wallpaper
3%
Household and
toiletry,
stationery
17%
Writing
materials and
office supplies
8%
5.7 GLASS
The German glass industry is the leader in Europe, based on production volume, according to data from
the annual report of the Bundesverband Glasindustrie and Mineralfaserindustrie e.V. (www.bvglas.de).
Within the German glass industry, glass packaging, with a production value of 1.43 billion €, had a
share of about 5.5% in 2000. Glass packaging is manufactured in 34 factories, which have about
10,000 employees.
Glass as packaging material divides into beverage bottles and glass packaging for different sectors
(among others, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics). In 2000, 17.5 billion glass packages of all kinds were
produced. That is equivalent to a production of 4.3 million tons: 74% of total weight is made up by
beverage bottles, 17% by glass jars, and 9% by packaging glass for the pharmaceutical industry,
cosmetics, and other food products.
During the last few years, the weight of glass has been reduced by about 65%, a sign of sustainable and
intensive efforts for innovation. With special laminates, scratch- and abrasion-resistance and protection
against corrosion and weathering are obtained. However, all these improvements still have not halted
the decline in use of glass packaging for beverages. Competition, especially against the very popular
cans as well as the lightweight PET bottles (see Plastics section), is intensive.
A big advantage of glass in comparison to other packaging material is, in view of the strict rules of the
German Packaging Ordinance (see section 5.2 above and section 6.2.1 below), that glass can be almost