Environment: Stoelzle

Stoelzle implements holistic CSR strategy

Stoelzle Glass Group has been awarded for its sustainability strategy initiatives across all its production sites. Doris Marka* reports.

More than ever before, people and companies need to rethink their impact on nature. The European Green Deal has set ambitious goals for all industries and companies aimed to reduce CO2 their emissions and mitigate the greenhouse effect. As part of an energy intensive industry, Stoelzle is well aware of this challenging task and launched comprehensive sustainability initiatives on a group level at all production sites a couple of years ago.

Sustainability award

production site and headquarters of the Stoelzle Glass Group gained recognition for its commitment to corporate social responsibility. The glass manufacturer was awarded with the regional TRIGOS, which is the most important Austrian award for responsible management. The award recognises companies for their excellent leadership roles and as a role model for responsible management and sustainability. Those companies clearly contribute to the future growth of the Austrian economy, society and the environment.

Stoelzle Oberglas was the winner in the climate protection category for two reasons: the successful implementation of a holistic sustainability strategy on a group level and for its ambitious prestige recycling glass project at the Austrian production plant. The jury was also impressed by the Green Knowledge initiative, a series of virtual workshops, aimed at raising awareness for climate protection throughout the Stoelzle Glass Group. In six virtual workshops, more than 100 interested Stoelzle employees learned from external lecturers with regard to the topic of Climate Change - Myth, Risks and Opportunities and

be increased in future.

Decoration technique with 77% less CO2

In its three decoration sites in UK, Poland and France, Stoelzle sets steps as a role model for decoration techniques. A special powder coating technique, the Quali Glass Coat 2.0 helps save up to 77% of CO2 emissions compared to standard lacquering. Thanks to the use of less raw material and completely solvent-free colours, this method is sustainable and also creates bottle surfaces, which are highly resistant to mechanical impacts.

worked on finding new perspectives and necessary measures combined with the implementation of new processes and structures.

Birgit Schalk, Sustainability Manager at the Stoelzle Glass Group, describes the winning project Prestige Recycling Glass as follows: “The main challenge in the glass industry is to continuously improve the energy-intensive process of glass production and at the same time to keep glass quality at a consistently high level.

“With our new batch formula, we have managed to produce a sustainable, brilliant, colour-stable white glass with at least 20% PCR whilst maintaining a high level of quality. After a trial campaign in 2020, we successfully implemented the new batch formula in autumn and have been saving since then 20% of natural raw materials, 4% energy and around 16% CO2.”

The increased use of cullet was accompanied by the implementation of a quality assurance concept, which monitors and ensures a consistent high level of glass quality and glass colour, even if the amount of cullet will gradually Powder coated bottles are most suitable for a second decoration step in order to achieve valuable branding.

Type II Glass

Sustainability ranks highly at the Stoelzle Glass Group. A dedicated R&D team doesn’t only focus on saving energy and reducing CO2 emissions but also thrives to develop ecofriendly processes and improve product quality. With regard to Type II Pharma glass, Stoelzle reinvented a commonly known production process and made it much more sustainable. After several trial productions in 2020, the Austrian site Stoelzle Oberglas, which focuses on Pharma and consumer glass, is ready to manufacture its EcoSecur Pharma glass, a new generation of Type II glass. Compared to commonly known Type II production processes, the new Ecosecur bottles receive their inner surface treatment in from of a precisely dosed liquid agent. The liquid agent can be applied in exact doses to small to large glass containers. The manufacturing process guarantees a stable and high product quality, while being much safer to humans and the environment compared to other treatments with gas or solid agents.

In-house glass lab

One of the pillars in the quality assurance concept is Stoelzle’s in-house glass lab, which was installed recently at the Austrian headquarters. With the increased use of post-consumer recycled cullet, constant monitoring of the glass composition and colour is a necessity. The glass composition is checked regularly via X-ray fluorescence measurements. This method allows a rapid and reliable determination of a variety of glass components, which is crucial to optimise the glass batch for the forming process and to ensure that the content of heavy metals, such as lead are below the mandated limits. Furthermore, the concentrations of metal ions, which influence the glass colour, can also be determined. Complimentary, the glass colour is measured using UVVis spectroscopy to ensure a colourless appearance of all flint glass products. �

*PR Manager, Stoelzle Glass Group, Austria https://www.stoelzle.com/