BV Glas, the Federal Association of the German Glass Industry (Bundesverband Glasindustrie e.V.) has the ambition to regard glass packaging not only under environmental but also under sustainability criteria. Against this background the pre-study "Sustainability Assessment of Glass" was conducted in which suitable and relevant indicators for glass packaging derived from the current sustainability discussion. These do not only consider ecological but as well economic and social aspects. Based on the findings an indicator set was developed that allows the measurement of sustainability effects on industry and product level. This indicator set was then tested on industry level.
In the main study the indicator set was also applied on product level. It includes three work packages (WP):

• WP 1: Sustainability effects of regional structures
• WP 2: Material intensity analysis of mineral water bottles
• WP 3: Sustainability assessment of glass and PET packaging

The indicator data collection originated from literature as well as from the glass industry. As there was none or only unsatisfactory secondary data available for the indicators "regional structures" and "material intensity" an extensive analysis was conducted for these indicators.
In this project the scientific interest of the Wuppertal Institute focuses on the selection criteria of suitable indicators for the sustainability assessment and on the generalizability and practicability of these indicators. The central research issues are:

• What are the sustainability requirements of glass packages in line with the current sustainability discussion?
• What is the sustainability and resource efficiency potential of glass packaging along its value chain on industry and product level?
• How can sustainability effects of regional structures be evaluated on the industry and product level?