Verallia 18, avenue d’Alsace

Les Miroirs - 92096 La Défense CedexTel. +33(0)1 47 62 38 00Fax +33(0)1 47 62 39 55

www.verallia.com the many lives of glass

Verallia aims to become the benchmark for glass packaging and, more generally, for rigid packaging – a company contributing to the sustainable development of its communities, value for its customers and the well-being of its end-consumers.

sustainable development: a corporate philosophy

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contents

• Our key figures 4• More than promises... commitments 6

A MAteriAl with UnpArAlleled VirtUes 10• The three stages of glass production 14

the enVironMent: oUr eVerydAy focUs 16 • Incorporating environmental factors and anticipating risks 18

4 key priorities :Increased use of recycled glassReduced CO2 emissionsImproved energy efficiency of our processesOptimized use of water resources

Reduction of other atmospheric emissions

From waste to raw material

• Anticipating environmental risks 30

eco-conception: deliVering cUstoMer sAtisfAction 32• Our eco-conceived product ranges 34

VerAlliA: A responsible eMployer 36 • A zero-risk culture 38• Two objectives for optimal working conditions 40• People: our key resource 42• Audits: as transparent as glass 48

Acting locAlly 50 • Endlessly recyclable 52• Community outreach 54

our key figuressales by market

sales by region

WesternEurope

56%South America

9%

United States

31%

EasternEurope

4%

Sparkling wines

9%

Food

19%

Other bottles

8%

Other (including tableware and decoration)

6%

Beer

19%

Still wines

29%

Spirits

10%

Approximately 15,500 employees in 14 countries Portfolio of more than 10,000 customers Approximately 25 billion bottles and jars produced in 2011

Sales presence in 47 countries 13 awards for innovation in 2011

95 glass furnaces and 6 centers for research & development and innovation5

more than promises…commitments

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1. coMprehensiVely And strictly Apply oUr principles of condUct: Professional Commitment, Respect for Others, Integrity, Loyalty and Solidarity

And Action:Respect for the Law, Caring for the Environment, Worker Health and Safety, and Employee Rights

2. pUrsUe An AMbitioUs policy to constAntly iMproVe workplAce heAlth And sAfety

3. continUoUsly encoUrAge the personAl deVelopMent of oUr eMployees, with a special focus on diversity, training and career management

5. MiniMize the enVironMentAl footprint of oUr operAtions with four priorities:

• Maximum use of recycled glass in our furnaces• Increasedenergyefficiencyinourmanufacturingprocesses• ReductionofCO2 emissions• Optimizeduseofwaterresources

6. iMpleMent AlternAtiVe energy solUtions At oUr plAnts through research and development focusing on green electricity, biogas and syngas (synthesis gas) produced from biomass

7. continUoUsly deVelop eco-conceiVed prodUcts, creating additional value for our customers’ products4. be A responsible And sUstAinAble plAyer within

oUr locAl coMMUnities, notably through the promotion of glass recycling and the enhancement of awareness of all aspects of sustainable development

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GLASS: THE IDEAL PACKAGING CHOICE

Glass is unbeatable when it comes to sustainable development. Made from natural raw materials, glass is fully and endlessly recyclable in a closed-loop process (100% of glass collected can be recycled, over and over again). Glass packaging is an inert, neutral material which blocks the migration of chemical toxicity to its contents. Glass is also the only food and beverage packaging material in which the content is not in contact with a plastic film, a material derived mainly from petrochemicals which can adversely impact products as a result of leaching. Glass is thus the ideal packaging choice for

maximizing the value of the product, while protecting the health and well-being of consumers and ensuring 100% recyclability.

These qualities make glass a material for the future, offering a perfect response to increasingly responsible consumption patterns.

Glass is viewed by customers and end users as a healthy choice with impeccable green credentials that ensures optimum product quality. In public opinion surveys commissioned by industry associations in Europe and the United States, glass frequently emerges as the preferred packaging material

among consumers. It is perceived as a safe, healthy, pure, neutral material with excellent aesthetic qualities and environmental benefits (including full and endless recyclability).

According to the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE), 84% of people in Europe would like to see more widespread use of glass packaging; 70% would like to buy more products in glass containers; 42% are prepared to pay more for glass packaging; and 82% want companies to use more glass packaging. In the same study, 88% of people believed that glass is safer than plastic in terms of health.

a material with unparalleled virtues

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virtues of glass

Verallia has formed partnerships with design schools in a number of countries to foster a greater understanding of glass among future designers and to promote it as a state-of-the-art material with great aesthetic potential.

In France, for example, following the success of the competitions held in the previous two years, Verallia launched its 3rd annual Design and Packaging competition

A COMPETITION TO CREATE THE DIFFERENCE

In Europe, FEVE has created “Friends of Glass,” a consumer forum with a strong presence on the internet and among social networks. It promotes the qualities of glass packaging, including its purity and food safety benefits as well as its environmental advantages.

In October 2010, in partnership with national glass industry associations, FEVE launched the “Nothing” publicity campaign in 12 European countries (France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovakia). The accompanying website (www.nothingisgoodforyou.com) outlines the reasons why glass is the best and safest packaging material and offers consumers the chance to order a free sample of “nothing” in the form of a beautifully crafted bottle or jar.

Simultaneously with the campaign launch, Friends of Glass published a survey conducted in 19 European countries by the market research firm TNS.

IT’S GOOD TO HAVE FRIENDS

MAJOR BRANDS CHOOSE GLASS

In all of its countries of operation around the world, Verallia actively supports communication campaigns that promote the qualities and capabilities of glass among consumers as well as opinion leaders in the packaging industry.

The campaigns, which are driven either by

Many leading food brands use glass containers for their dairy products because of the material’s chemical purity, its ability to preserve taste and freshness, and its 100% recyclability.

It was precisely these properties that led Yoplait to switch to glass jars designed by Verallia for its “Saveurs d’autrefois” range of artisanal yogurts. The natural advantages of glass, as well as its recyclability, played a key role in Yoplait’s decision. In the United

States, Traders Point Creamery now also packages its cheese products in glass

rather than plastic. The elegant new jars, manufactured by Verallia France

and sold by Verallia North America, keep the product fresh and

attract the attention of potential buyers.

in September 2011. Students were invited to explore the creative, technical and marketing potential of glass, around the theme of “Create the Difference.” The most innovative entries in terms of form, presentation, decoration and content enhancement will be awarded one of the three top prizes. The competition is now sponsored by well-known designers who are committed to green design and sustainable development.

GLASS IN ACTION

industry associations or directly by Verallia, are designed to encourage consumers to recycle and provide information on the purity and environmental benefits of glass and its ability to preserve product taste and quality.

In the United States, for example, Verallia

is a member of the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI), the voice of the North American glass industry.

GPI runs the “Keep it Organic” website (www.keepitorganic.org) to promote the link between glass packaging and organic food and beverage products.

a material with unparalleled virtues

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2. the “hot end:” forming and treatment of the glassThe molten glass is then conveyed from the furnace via a series of distribution channels (or “feeders”) to the forming machines at a temperature between 1100°C and 1250°C (2000°F and 2300°F). The forming process transforms the compact mass of glass into a hollow shape, using a metal plunger and blown air (known as the “press and blow” technique) or via two blowing stages (known as “blow and blow”).

Before entering the forming machines, the glass flow is cut into “gobs” whose weight, shape and temperature are precisely controlled.

The gob is then transformed by pressing or blowing into an intermediate hollow pocket shape in a blank mould, before being transferred to a finishing mould for blowing into the final shape of the bottle or jar. This two-stage process lasts just a few seconds, after which the products are at a temperature of approximately 600°C (1100°F).

the three stages of glass productionThe process for manufacturing glass packaging requires the mixing of various ingredients and the heating of them in furnaces to produce a liquid that can then be shaped using special techniques (known as the “blow and blow” and “press and blow” methods).

To strengthen the glass containers, they then undergo reheating and gradual cooling in a long, flat oven called an annealing lehr. Annealing takes between 50 minutes and 2 hours, depending on the type of container.

The containers are also given two surface treatments to make them more resistant to scratches: a very fine coating of tin oxide is applied to the glass while it is still hot, and a layer of wax is sprayed on once the glass is cool. The treatment products employed are compatible for use with food and beverage packaging.

1. Melting the mixture of raw materials (sand, soda ash, limestone, feldspar, etc.) and recycled glass (cullet) After mixing, the raw materials and cullet are melted in furnaces at a temperature of approximately 1550°C (2800°F). It takes approximately 24 hours for the raw materials entering the furnace to be converted into molten glass. The extremely high temperatures involved mean that it is more efficient for the furnaces to operate continuously—24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The forehearth brings the temperature of the

molten glass to a uniform level. Shearing and distribution systems cut the molten glass from the forehearth into uniform gobs, which are then transferred to the forming machines.

The annealing lehr reheats the glass to approximately

570°C (1050°F) and then allows it to cool gradually. This process reduces stress in the containers, thereby promoting the natural strength of the glass.

Cold-end coating is also applied to the exterior of

the containers to reduce the coefficient of friction of the glass (to make it more slippery), which helps to prevent scratching.

In the fast-cooling section, the glass cools

to a temperature that allows it to be handled.

Specialized on-line testing equipment, including the

squeezer, plug gauger, thin-wall tester and check detector, as well as physical and visual inspections, are used to ensure product quality. Any container that does not meet quality standards is rejected and returned to the furnace to be recycled as cullet.

The containers are then stacked between five and

15 layers high on pallets made from repaired or recycled materials.

The batch house is where sand, soda ash and

limestone are weighed and mixed with other raw materials to create the batch mixture.

The gobs are delivered to moulds on a forming

machine known as an individual section (IS) machine, where the glass is shaped mechanically by pressing and/or blowing with compressed air.

A hot-end coating is then applied to the exterior

of the glass containers to strengthen the glass and act as a base coat for the subsequent cold-end coating.

The regenerator chambers capture the heat from

the flue gases and cycle the heat back to preheat the combustion air up to 1300°C (2400°F).

The furnace melts raw materials to form glass.

Each furnace supplies glass to several production lines. Glass temperatures inside the furnace are typically between 1250 to 1500°C (2300°F to 2700°F).

MANuFACTuRING GLASS BOTTLES AND JARS

Cullet (crushed recycled glass) may compose up

to 90% of the batch mixture. It consists of post-consumer glass as well as glass recovered and recycled within the plant as part of the quality assurance procedures.

The furnace control console allows the

operator to monitor and control the furnace and the batch house operation.

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the Manufacturing process

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a material with unparalleled virtues

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our environmental responsibility

INCORPORATING ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND ANTICIPATING RISKS

Some of our facilities in 14 countries around the world are situated in densely populated areas, while others are located away from population centers (for example close to our customers in wine-producing regions). We are committed to protecting this wide range of environments. We aim to:

1. Incorporate environmental factors into every stage of our activities

2. Anticipate environmental risks

Our company is committed to protecting the environment through a series of programs and initiatives encompassing waste management; water treatment; reduction of energy consumption, CO2, and other atmospheric emissions; and participation in projects to separate and sort post-consumer glass in Europe and the United States.

These actions are backed by major investments, with almost €200 million devoted to health, safety and the environment between 2004 and 2011.

3. The “cold end:” inspection and packaging of the glass containers The quality control processes applied depend on the target market and the products concerned. Mechanical, video and light beam technology, as well as visual inspections, can be used to check the neck area, wall thickness, dimensions and appearance.

Any rejected containers are removed from the production line and recycled as cullet for making new glass. After exiting the production line, finished products are generally packed on pallets, or (in the US and Germany, in particular) in cardboard boxes or plastic crates.

At Verallia, we are committed to continuously improving our industrial processes and facilities. As a result of our in-house glass furnace design capabilities (in particular our engineering center in Chalon-sur-Saône, as well as facilities shared with Saint-Gobain, notably Saint-Gobain Conceptions Verrières) and our ability to manufacture forming machines, we are able to incorporate new developments into our industrial facilities on an ongoing basis.

A FOCUS ON CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

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The aim of our environmental policy—a key part of our sustainable development program—is to preserve natural resources and continuously reduce the environmental impact of our activities. We also take action to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and dust, and to control risk by means of proven environmental management systems.

Increased use of recycled glass

Reduced CO2 emissions

Improved energy efficiency of our processes

Optimized use of water resources

1. Increased use of recycled glass in manufacturingThe use of recycled glass (in the form of cullet) in the glass manufacturing process brings major environmental benefits. It boosts energy efficiency and reduces CO2 emissions, since for each additional 10% of glass cullet that goes into our process we use 3% less energy and produce 5% less CO2.

Using recycled glass in our furnaces also means that we consume fewer natural resources, since the cullet takes the place of the natural raw materials used to make glass (sand, limestone and soda ash). Recycling one metric ton of cullet enables us to save an average of 1.2 metric tons of raw materials.

The proportion of recycled glass that goes into our furnaces has increased significantly in recent years as a result of highly effective recycling programs in some countries and the development of more efficient processes in countries such as the United States.

Some furnaces, such as those at Oiry (France), Montblanc (Catalonia, Spain) and Milford (Massachusetts, United States) can handle up to 95% cullet.

Recycled glass usage is a key performance indicator for production facilities and is tracked on a monthly basis using our industrial reporting system.

the environment: our everyday focus

In accordance with the Health, Safety, Environment and Quality charter implemented at our sites, new plant construction and major expansion projects require an environmental risk assessment before they can proceed. An initial environmental survey encompassing air, water, and soil quality and biodiversity is conducted with the support of experts as well as local consultants who work across all of Verallia’s activities. This survey then serves as a baseline for the sites concerned.

RECyCLED GLASSenvironmental responsibility

4 key priorities

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LCA is a key component of our sustainable development program. It is used as a decision support tool that enables us to:• identify priority areas of focus• ensure that implemented actions deliver

significant environmental benefits and check that individual actions do not result in pollution being transferred from one impact category to another. (The use of industrially decarbonated raw materials, for example, might seem like a good idea, but would merely involve shifting CO2 emissions to our suppliers with a negative net impact on the environment, since the product life cycle would then involve two separate heating processes.)

With these goals in mind, LCA was introduced to the glass packaging industry in 2007:• in the United States by the Glass Packaging

Institute (GPI - www.gpi.org),• in Europe by the European Container Glass

Federation (FEVE - www.feve.org).

We have been working to reduce these emissions for several decades now, using three primary methods: • Continuously increasing the percentage

of recycled glass (cullet) used in place of new raw materials in glassmaking furnaces

• Reducing the consumption of energy from fossil fuels

• Reducing electricity consumption

TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVINg ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

ENVIRONMENTAL DASHBOARDS: MONITORING PERFORMANCE AT THE PLANT LEVELTo ensure that our environmental actions are deployed with the necessary depth and breadth, we have introduced a system of “dashboards” that enables each production site to assess its performance against a set of key indicators (energy consumption; use of renewable energy; CO2, nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur oxide (SOx) and dust emissions; water consumption; waste recycling; and use of cullet). The goal is to use this industrial performance assessment tool as a platform for identifying best practices and implementing operational improvement plans.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a technique for assessing the environmental impact associated with all stages of a product’s life cycle.

The life cycle assessment (LCA) encompassed 72% (by volume) of glass packaging produced

in Europe and 75% of glass packaging produced in the United States. It

enabled us to identify our key environmental priorities.

72% of glass packaging produced in Europe

75%

of glass packaging produced in the United States

An environmentally responsible company needs a clear understanding of how its activities affect the environment throughout the life cycle of its products. LCA is a technique that enables companies to achieve this objective by quantifying the environmental impact of every stage in a product’s life, from extraction of raw materials, through the distribution and use phases, to disposal or recycling in the end. LCA is a highly sophisticated multi-criteria assessment technique that has become recognized as the standard in the field.

2. Reduction of CO2 emissionsThe CO2 emissions that result from our industrial activities occur at different stages in the product life cycle: • The extraction or production of certain raw

materials, for example synthetic soda ash, mainly used in Europe and South America, generates CO2 emissions.

• The decomposition of raw materials in glassmaking furnaces, in particular sodium carbonate and limestone, may also produce CO2.

• Greenhouse gas emissions also result from energy use through:- direct emissions from fossil fuels

(oil and natural gas) used in the melting and forming stages of the process, or

- indirect emissions from the generation of electricity used in our facilities.

• Other phases in our product life cycle (such as transportation, secondary and tertiary packaging, pallet production, etc.) are also likely to generate greenhouse gases.

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CO2CO2 EMISSIONS

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FURNACE RECONSTRUCTION BRINgS IMPROVEMENTS AT SAPULPAIn 2011, one of the end-port furnaces at Verallia North America’s Sapulpa facility was rebuilt, providing the opportunity to implement a number of significant technological and process improvements, including state-of-the-art burners incorporating the latest advances in combustion technology (relating to air velocity and angle), as well as individual injector control. These improvements, designed to ensure a more consistent flame and hence better combustion control, have delivered a 35% reduction in the energy consumed by the furnace.

Process improvements included the publication of a user guide to support furnace operation, together with information on burner settings and energy use.

3. Improving the energy efficiency of our processes We are taking steps to reduce our energy consumption in a number of key areas by optimizing the operation of our furnaces and leveraging technological innovations.

Optimizing furnace operation In 2008, Verallia launched a world-class manufacturing program at its plants. Dubbed E² (Enterprise Excellence), the program aims to make us more efficient by continuously improving our industrial processes.

The key areas of focus of the E² program are organization, improvement of facilities and elimination of waste.

E² also aims to foster a culture of excellence among our teams in order to optimize performance and competiveness through the adoption of best practices. This will enable us to meet the expectations of our customers and all stakeholders more effectively. The E² program is based on

performance data obtained using this method, known as “energy gap analysis,” is fed into a comprehensive reporting system that enables cross-comparison of performance at different sites in a given country. The program is currently being rolled out to all Verallia plants in Western Europe, the United States and Latin America, and will subsequently be extended to cover Eastern Europe and Algeria.

When our glass furnaces are rebuilt, which happens every 10 to 14 years, we systematically install the most energy-efficient furnace technology available.

Optimizing the use of compressed air in production facilities

The manufacture of our bottles and jars involves a number of pneumatic devices that operate using compressed air, which is produced using electricity. Forming machines (also known as IS machines) are among the largest consumers of compressed air. The pressure of the

seven continuous improvement indicators: quality, flexibility, team commitment, availability, workplace safety, environment and innovation.

One of the workflows of the E² program involved looking at ways to reduce the energy consumption of our furnaces. The first stage involved identifying waste. The work groups then focused on operating conditions, and in particular optimizing moisture control, excess combustion air and glass temperature. Individual parameter adjustments were tested at pilot sites to assess the potential benefits.

As a result of the analyses conducted within the scope of E², a furnace operation and maintenance optimization program was launched in 2010. Production managers at each site carry out precise monthly monitoring of furnace energy consumption and compare the results with expected and past consumption levels. Furnace operation can then be adapted to ensure that energy consumption is optimized. Energy

compressed air can be optimized to precisely meet a machine’s requirements, thereby delivering savings in electricity consumption. Although this approach has already been successfully adopted at some Verallia facilities, the quantity of energy consumed in compressed air production still needs to be reduced at other sites. Metering systems are being put in place to allow compressed air pressure and consumption to be adapted to the specific needs of each of our sites. Energy consumption for compressed air production accounts for up to 6% of the total energy consumption of a glassmaking plant and almost 40% of the total electricity consumption.

Verallia is working to reduce the amount of energy we consume in producing compressed air. Our target is a reduction of approximately 7% in electricity consumption (excluding melting).

ENERGy EFFICIENCyenvironmental responsibility

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In addition to its work to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, Verallia is partnering with potential suppliers of renewable energy, and in particular biomass, with the intention of using renewable energy to power glass furnaces. The use of biomass energy reduces fossil CO2 emissions from glassmaking plants, and also helps reduce other environmental impacts on the surrounding area through the beneficial re-use of waste products.

In a further reflection of Verallia’s engagement on this issue, the company is leading a research and development project with GDF Suez, Xylowatt, Cirad and CIVC, with support from the French National Research Agency, to promote the use of vineyard biomass in the glass melting process in the Champagne wine region. The ultimate goal is to speed up the process

of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources derived from wine production.

The objective of the project, titled BioViVe (from the French for “Vineyard biomass for glass melting”), is to replace fossil fuels used in gas-fired furnaces with a synthetic gas (or syngas) obtained from wood by-products of vine pruning and uprooting activities.

The Champagne wine-producing region boasts as-yet untapped biomass resources, such as vine prunings, which are currently burned in the vineyard, and uprooted vines. The BioViVe project is adapting existing wood gasification technology used in forestry applications to the characteristics of vine wood and optimizing the syngas obtained for use in a glassmaking furnace. The vines that produce Champagne will also generate part of the energy needed to manufacture

the bottles in which they will be packaged.Alongside their research work into syngas,

the project partners are also planning to set up a local, sustainable biomass collection network with local winegrowers.

When the development stage of the BioViVe project is complete, 7% of the fuel required for the glass furnace at Oiry (Champagne region) will be replaced with syngas on a trial basis. The ultimate goal is to develop the process and associated infrastructure to a level where up to 50% of the furnace’s fuel needs can be met with syngas.

Successful completion of the project on an industrial scale will save 10,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year in the Champagne region, equivalent to the exhaust emissions from approximately 5,000 vehicles.

RENEWABLE ENERgY

Another target area is the electricity consumption of annealing lehrs (in which the bottles and jars are strengthened by being reheated and gradually cooled), which we are aiming to reduce by optimizing the applied temperature profile. This work could eventually deliver a substantial reduction in energy consumption.

In addition to its R&D work on vineyard biomass, Verallia is investigating the possibility of using biogas from the fermentation of non-wood biomass as an energy source for its glass furnaces. Tests carried out at our plant at Bad Wurzach, Germany, have shown that energy substitution rates of around 10% could be achieved under certain conditions. Work is ongoing to adapt the characteristics of the biogas to the requirements of glass furnaces and boost potential energy substitution rates.

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ENERGy EFFICIENCyenvironmental responsibility

Reducing reliance on fossil fuels through targeted R&D activitiesAlongside its continuous improvement program, Verallia is working on a range of research and development (R&D) projects aimed at optimizing processes and developing innovative solutions to reduce energy consumption. The company works in close partnership with Saint-Gobain Recherche and has developed a number of partnerships with startup companies.

For example, research into feeders (the distribution channels used to equalize the temperature of the glass and convey it to the forming machines) is focused on the development of a new feeder concept designed to ensure that the glass is at a more uniform temperature, thereby reducing energy consumption.

Work is also underway to optimize the ventilation system used for cooling the forming moulds on IS machines, with the aim of delivering a further reduction in electricity consumption.

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The company has made significant investments in furnace equipment such as electrostatic precipitators to treat gaseous effluent and bring very significant reductions in dust emissions. All of our plants in Western Europe and Brazil have installed electrostatic precipitators, and the systems are currently being deployed at our plants in the United States.

Recent years have seen significant reductions in emissions at all of our sites. In the period 2004-2011, dust emissions fell by 50%, NOx emissions by 20% and SOx emissions by 9%.

Finally, our research and development teams are now developing an innovative combustion technique designed to significantly reduce NOx emissions generated during the manufacturing process.

control the water flow injected for cooling the “gob” of molten glass after it has left the furnace; and water temperature monitoring throughout the water system.

The Albi plant in France, operated by VOA, also reduced its water consumption by 30% between 2010 and 2011 after a detailed analysis of the condition of buried piping at the plant identified several defective pipes and a number of significant leaks.

We are currently developing a sustainable water management policy which will be gradually rolled out to all sites with the aim of minimizing the impact of our activities on water resources.

4. Optimized use of water resources A certain quantity of natural resources must be used as part of the glass production process. Water, for example, is an important resource, which we use mainly for cooling installations that operate at high temperatures. However, 17% of our sites are located in “water stress” zones.

To limit the volume of water we extract, we use closed-loop systems at our industrial facilities whenever possible. Where a closed-loop system is not in place, water is systematically treated before being discharged into the environment.

Our Figueira da Foz plant in Portugal, for example, reduced its water consumption by 20% between 2008 and 2011 as a result of the implementation of a number of best practices, such as the use of a rainwater pond to allow water to be reinjected into the water system of the manufacturing process; the installation of a series of valves to

We are also working to limit atmospheric emissions other than CO2, in particular nitrogen oxides (NOx) resulting from the oxidation of combustion air at high temperatures; sulfur oxides (SOx) arising from the oxidation of sulfur contained in the fossil fuel used to heat our glass furnaces (mainly oil) and from sulfates contained in the furnace batch material; and dust, for which we aim to achieve levels that go beyond those required by national regulations.

Primary emissions reduction measures applied to our furnaces over the past 20 years have reduced NOx emissions due to combustion by almost half, as well as delivering a significant reduction in SOx emissions (in combination with the use of low-sulfur fuel oil).

REDUCTION OF OTHER ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS

wATERenvironmental responsibility

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Sorting is the term used to describe the separation of colored glass from clear glass by optical means. Glass retains its color after recycling, so it is not possible to make clear glass from unsorted waste glass.

SORTING all about

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Recycled glass is processed to make it suitable for use as the main raw material in our glass production process. Non-glass materials— which make up 5-10% of the material collected, and can negatively affect product quality and reduce furnace lifetimes—are removed and partly recycled. For example: • Opaque, non-meltable mineral materials

such as stones, porcelain, ceramics, etc. are detected using optical techniques and removed.

• Magnetic metals are separated by loading the glass onto a conveyor belt equipped with a powerful permanent magnet and sent for treatment and recycling.

• Non-magnetic metals are removed using eddy current separators, before being sent for treatment and recycling.

• Soluble organic materials (food residues) are removed by cleaning and sent for composting.

• Insoluble organic materials such as paper labels, fragments of cardboard, plastic, etc., are removed by manual sorting and suction/blowing.

• Organic materials are then dispatched for appropriate waste management (for example plastics treatment/recycling).

Other treatment options are also available, such as optical color sorting to optimize cullet recycling.

The most water-intensive stage of our product life cycle is the production of soda ash, used as a raw material in glass furnaces in Europe and Latin America. The use of cullet in glass production reduces the quantities of

The majority of our industrial sites have temporary waste storage facilities, where waste is sorted by type before removal. The ultimate goal is to reduce total waste volumes and to re-use or recycle all of

LESS WATER CONSUMPTION

MORE RECYCLINg

our waste, with no waste going to landfill. Verallia Deutschland currently recycles

more than 90% of the waste produced by its plants.

raw materials required (including soda ash), thereby significantly reducing water consumption and diminishing the environmental impact of our product life cycle.

FROM WASTE TO RAW MATERIAL

RECyCLING PROCESS

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Prevention is the key principle behind the environmental policy we apply to our industrial operations.

We put this preventive approach into practice by:

• Using processes whose environmental impact has been fully evaluated

• Designing increasingly safe, reliable and efficient equipment

• Maintaining our plants effectively

• Using monitoring and testing equipment (for example to detect leaks)

anticipating environmental risks1. Prevention• Managers at our plants

are issued a prevention manual with the rules and guidelines that apply to design work as well as operational management.

• Annual audits by an external body, as well as self-assessments, help glassmaking sites to prioritize actions and measure progress within the scope of continuous

improvement programs.• Training and awareness

programs are deployed to help our personnel implement best practices.

2. Protection We have an annual investment program designed to improve safety at our plants (new layouts, hazard detection, sprinkler systems, etc.)

3. AnticipationOur Business Continuity Plan is designed to allow the company to manage crises effectively and return to normal operations under optimum conditions. Regular exercises are conducted to test our emergency plans and provide plant personnel with hands-on experience in operating under degraded conditions.

Verallia’s industrial risk management policy has three complementary areas of focus:

Regular environmental audits and monitoring programs are conducted throughout our projects to enable us to evaluate our environmental performance and develop improvement plans. Our continuous improvement program—an important area of focus for Verallia—has helped us to significantly reduce the environmental impact of our activities in recent years.

We are developing an environmental management system at our sites based on the ISO 14001 standard governing continuous improvement of environmental performance.

ISO 14001 certification is issued by an approved independent body following a site

audit and has to be renewed on a regular basis. The key requirements of ISO 14001 are also checked for compliance during regular 20-stage internal audits carried out by audit teams from other Saint-Gobain businesses.

In 2011, the company launched a new internal environmental audit system to assess compliance with the various standards applied within the company. European sites will be the first to implement the system.

We are committed to upgrading our production facilities in emerging countries. Acquisitions in some countries generally require a non-recurring capital expenditure to improve safety and environmental

Assessing the results of continuous improvement

PREVENTIONenvironmental responsibility

protection at production sites. The Zorya plant in Ukraine is one example. It was acquired in 2006 and gained ISO 14001 certification in 2009.

THE ENVIRONMENT MATTERSWe believe that reducing the environmental impact of our activities, when combined with proactive recovery and recycling of glass, makes glass packaging a more attractive proposition for consumers. This is the rationale behind our eco-conceived product lines.

Our manufacturing process for glass packaging allows us to offer our customers added-value products that are attractive to consumers, and to reduce environmental impact throughout the product life cycle, from raw materials to the end user (including selective sorting of glass after use) and, finally, recycling.

By optimizing the weight of glass required to produce a container of a given shape, our eco-conceived products are particularly environmentally friendly. And, like all of the glass packaging products manufactured by Verallia, they benefit from the inherent qualities of glass—a neutral, inert material that is fully and endlessly recyclable—as well as the improvements that we are making to the glassmaking process (optimized energy efficiency of production equipment, increased use of recycled glass in furnaces and reduction of CO2 emissions associated with raw materials extraction, production and shipment).

Eco-design is now a key element of our sustainable development policy. Consideration of environmental factors is a matter of daily concern in our design offices and production plants, and our technical teams have fully embraced the principles of environmentally-friendly design. To support the eco-conception process, Verallia is developing tools to optimize the shape of glass packaging, reducing total weight without loss of strength and ensuring that we showcase our customers’ products.

eco-conception: delivering customer satisfaction

33

In 2011, Verallia sold more than 1.6 billion eco-conceived bottles under the Ecova and ECO Series™ names, for a total of 2.9 billion bottles sold since the ranges were launched in 2009.

Our eco-designed ranges were successfully rolled out in 2009, mainly under the Ecova name (ECO-friendly and VAlue), in France, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Portugal and Italy, and under the name ECO Series™ in the United States.

These containers, which combine aesthetic qualities with optimized weight while enhancing customers’ products, are intended for the still and sparkling wine and beer segments. They are tailored to the needs of regional markets in each country by local sales and marketing teams.

In 2011, for example, the Vins du Jura trade association in France decided to change its standard bottle, created in 1976, to help raise the profile of its product and demonstrate its commitment to sustainable development.

RETURNABLE BOTTLESSupporting the move toward returnable glass bottles, Verallia is developing a new generation of mineral water bottles for its customers.

In Germany, for example, the company has designed innovative new bottles for Gerolsteiner and Münsterländer Salvus Mineralbrunnen, meeting market demand and sending a strong signal that glass is making a comeback in the mineral water segment.

The new 1-liter bottle designed for Gerolsteiner, available in packs of six, has won two design awards: the silver medal in the non-alcoholic drinks category of Lebensmittel Praxis magazine’s “products of the year” awards, and the innovation prize from German environmental association Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) and the Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg recycling foundation.

“The creation of exclusive brands for returnable bottles sends out a clear message about our commitment to quality and environmental protection,” said DUH’s Managing Director Jürgen Resch. “The emergence of modern designs for returnable bottles provides a necessary stimulus for returnable packaging in the water segment.”

our eco-conceived product ranges

“DESIGN FOR RECYCLING” AWARD IN SPAIN In Spain, a product sold in an Ecova bottle designed by Verallia España won a “Design for Recycling” award in 2011. Codorniu, one of Spain’s leading producers of still and sparkling wine, was chosen because its product design combines a proactive approach to environmental protection with a commitment to recycling. The Ecova Cava bottle designed by Verallia played a key role in Codorniu’s winning strategy.

Teams from Verallia France worked closely with key customers within the trade association to develop a customized Ecova model that met ambitious specifications in terms of shape, weight and eco-design features. The new bottle, branded “Ecova - Vins du Jura,” offers a number of advantages, including optimized weight (reduced from 600 to 540 g), an attractive shape that highlights the qualities of the product, and a visible, distinctive design that reflects the spirit of the Jura region.

The Lirac wine trade association has also chosen an Ecova bottle manufactured by Verallia France for its wines, which are produced in just four villages in the Southern Rhone Valley. The new Burgundy-style bottle bears a special emblem on the shoulder.

The new bottle expresses a combination of respect for the historic traditions of the great Côtes du Rhône wines with a touch of freshness from the distinctive design. By choosing the Ecova design, Lirac is demonstrating its commitment to “eco-citizenship,” while also giving its wine a differentiating edge over other appellations.

In Brazil, Verallia also launched four specially designed 1.5-liter Ecova bottles in 2011 to meet the needs of the local wine market. Available in both Bordeaux and Burgundy styles, the new bottles have been a commercial success with several leading wine companies, including Garibaldi, Aurora and Fante, as a replacement for packaging materials such as PET and BIB (“bag-in-box”).

EcOVA ANd EcO SERIESTM

eco-conception: delivering customer satisfaction

34 3535

A SHAREd cOMMITMENT

Verallia places great importance on issues that affect its personnel, such as workplace health and safety, employee motivation, diversity, good employee relations, labor relations, and involvement in local communities.

verallia: a responsible employer

An ongoing commitment to ensure employee HEAlTH and SAfETy

Recruitment and relations with schools and universities to further contribute

to dIVERSITy and excellence

A focus on personal growth and dEVElOpMENT in career management

Access to skills and management TRAININg programs 

Employee ENgAgEMENT with the company’s business and social objectives

The key principles of Verallia’s human resources policy are as follows:

37

38 39

a zero-risk culture Verallia’s health and safety policy hinges on the development of standards to ensure that our sites are compliant with requirements. We also deploy programs aimed at changing behavior and safety management practices among our employees, as well as temporary staff and contractors working at our plants.

Two key performance indicators (KPIs) are tracked at company level on a monthly basis: the lost-time accident frequency rate (TF1) and the non-lost-time accident frequency rate (TF2) for Verallia personnel and contractors/ temporary staff combined.

Verallia applies specific health and safety standards based on an analysis of the root causes of the most frequent accidents and their seriousness.

This process has resulted in the development of standards for working at heights; lock-out/tag-out of electrical

equipment; contractor management; work permits for potentially hazardous activities such as welding, grinding and excavation; operation of forklifts; and machine safety.

1. focusing on the basicsVerallia has defined 4 Cardinal Rules, which were rolled out across the company in 2009 to make employees more aware of the basic principles of health and safety: do not bypass, neutralize or damage any safety devices; always wear suitable personal protective equipment (PPE); always follow lock-out procedures systematically; and use proper equipment and tools at all times. The implementation of these “4 Cardinal Rules for saving lives” is regularly tracked in all of the countries in which we operate.

(Number of lost-time accidents + fatal accidents) x 1,000,000

Number of hours workedTF1Number of reported accidents x 1,000,000

Number of hours workedTF2Number of recorded unsafe situations x 1,000,000

Number of hours workedTF5

2. collaborative tools Verallia also has a number of programs in place aimed at delivering progressive improvement in safety behavior across the organization. The primary aim of the Safety Management Audit Tool (SMAT) program, for example, now in place at all our sites around the world, is to enable managers and operators to discuss safety in a real work situation, in order to identify positive behavior as well as areas for improvement in relation to specific tasks.

Safety issues reported back by managers or operators from the different Verallia entities as a result of activities under the SMAT and TF5 (day-to-day risk management) programs are followed up with associated action plans at sites, where necessary.

Several sites have also embarked on a behavior-based safety (BBS) initiative which aims to foster a safety culture among all employees, particularly operators. Some plants (for example Wirges in Germany, as well as Dego and Carcare in Italy) have provided employee training to further raise

awareness of safety issues. The Porto Ferreira site in Brazil has launched the GOS program (Portuguese for Safety Observation Template), a series of safety discussions led by members of the plant’s safety committee (operators and employee representatives) to ensure the correct implementation of safety standards and rules.

TF1 - Lost-time accident frequency rateTF1 measures the number of accidents resulting in more than 24 hours of time off work. Accidents that occur when traveling to and from work, or to and from the location where employees normally eat their meals during the work day are not included.

TF2 - Non-lost-time accident frequency rateTF2 measures all accidents requiring medical services (fatal accidents + lost-time accidents + non-lost-time accidents).

all aboutTF1TF2

Lock-out/Tag-out is used to ensure that electrical, mechanical

or hydraulic equipment is de-energized before work

is carried out on it, to prevent the equipment from being

inadvertently re-started or re-energized by

another person.

LOCK-OUT / TAG-OUT

all about

a responsible employerSAfETy

Cultural toolsParticipatory toolsManagement tools

Risk assessment for each job and task

Comprehensive and coherent program

Cardinalrules

Safetystandards

Internalplant-levelstandards

Clear policy andresponsibilities

SMAT, monthly meetings, 5S, daily safety minutes

TF5 BBS,...

40 41

We have identified two key areas of focus related to health aspects of our industrial processes.

two objectives for optimal working conditions

1. Workstation ergonomics (movements and postures)Health risks can relate to lifting and handling, movements and postures, or repetitive strain on the upper limbs. Specialists in ergonomy support the risk assessment process and help develop solutions such as warm-up exercises, awareness training and the installation of new lifting/handling equipment. The Lagnieu plant in France, for example, has introduced warm-up sessions for staff responsible for adjusting the forming equipment at the start of a new production

run as part of its workplace ergonomics initiative. The ten-minute warm-up sessions, led by two in-house instructors, take place before the job change process to reduce the risk of injury and back strain when handling moulds.

Verallia has also produced a best practice guide for handling moulds, and the target for 2012 is to ensure that one site in each country conducts a mould handling analysis and implements the good practices outlined in the guide. The Bad Wurzach plant in Germany has already completed the analysis, and a number of workstation modifications have been made to implement the recommended practices.

2. Exposure to heat and noiseVerallia has adopted the Noise Standard (NOS) developed by Saint-Gobain in 2004 to assess personnel exposure to noise generated on site. A noise mapping exercise has been conducted at each plant, and a number of techniques have been deployed to reduce employees’ exposure to noise pollution. At the Pescia plant in Italy, for

example, a soundproofed cabin has been installed in a central location in the forming area. The new cabin allows the operator to conduct quality checks on three separate IS machines in cooler and quieter conditions.

A number of initiatives has also been introduced to reduce our employees’ exposure to heat. In Lonigo, Italy, for example, an air cooling system has been installed to boost the air renewal rate and reduce the temperature for personnel working in the packing area.

a responsible employerHEAlTH

42 43

people: our key resourceHuman resources are key to Verallia’s corporate strategy. Our HR policy, built on experience, wide-ranging expertise, and a commitment to the Principles of Conduct and Action, combines the virtues of strength and proximity by:

• Devolving management to country and subsidiary level

• Leveraging synergies at corporate level, with a particular focus on career management, diversity, mobility, and the implementation of our Principles of Conduct and Action

1. Recruitment and university relations The recruitment of new employees is vital to the ongoing development of the company. We select candidates carefully to ensure that they offer the right combination of skills, teamworking ability and development potential. New recruits’ attitude and behavior must be in line with the Principles of Conduct and Action, and openness to functional or geographical mobility may also be taken into account during the recruitment process.

As an employer, we are committed to diversity and equal opportunity, and our recruitment process is designed to treat all applicants fairly, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity and disability.

We are also committed to increasing the number of women we employ, particularly in technical jobs, to achieve a better balance between male and female employees.

Our recruitment figures for 2011 show that we are making progress: 32% of the

events hosted by educational institutions to interview and select students for internships and entry-level positions. Examples include: the Forum Trium recruitment fair, held by a group of prestigious French engineering schools; Foro de empleo in Burgos, Spain and a number of career fairs in the United States.

To boost Verallia’s profile as an attractive employer among universities specializing in our key disciplines (engineering, packaging, sales and marketing), we also send out speakers to talk about their career experiences to students in specific courses. The range of subjects and speakers is impressive and includes a presentation on marketing and design office activities at the French packaging engineering school ESIEC; an “industry jobs” seminar at the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC) engineering school near Paris, France, attended by a Verallia plant manager; and the design of teaching modules for Master’s degrees at the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy. Plants in various countries regularly

host visits to demonstrate our industrial expertise to students, and to encourage them to join Verallia upon completion of their studies. Students from the University of Reggio Emilia in Italy recently visited our sites in Gazzo Veronese and Villa Poma, for example, while a group from ENPC toured the Oiry plant in France.

200 managers who joined Verallia last year were women (the proportion in France was 47%).

Verallia has an policy of active engagement with schools and universities. Our HR teams take part in recruitment

verallia employeur responsable

a responsible employerRecRuitment

44 45

2. career management and training Our employees always have been, and always will be, our greatest asset for growth. Their specialized expertise, their adaptability and capacity for innovation, and their motivation and engagement will enable Verallia to continue to grow and to meet new challenges and seize opportunities.

Verallia works hard to foster a culture of real internal mobility and development, supported by a range of initiatives designed to help our employees fulfill their potential.

At Verallia, we consider knowledge sharing to be very important. Therefore, considerable effort is devoted to training. Recent years have seen a continuous increase in the percentage of our workforce that has received training (approximately 83% in 2011) and the number of hours of training (more than 49 hours per employee in 2011).

In 2011, the amount invested in training by Verallia was equivalent to 3.4% of the total payroll.

Our training programs are structured around two principal areas:• Skills training to develop the knowledge

and expertise of employees. Technical training, for example, represented 54% of the total volume of training in 2011 (compared with 42% in 2010). The majority of training is provided at our in-house training centers (such as the international training center in Chalon-sur-Saône, France, and the Technical Training Center in Marion, Indiana, United States).

• Management training to develop team leadership and project management skills of current and future managersIn addition to conventional classroom-

based training, we also use tutoring programs to transfer knowledge and expertise in work situations. Tutors come from the same entities as tutees, receive special training in tutoring techniques, and conduct their tutoring activities according to a structured step-by-step program that ends with an assessment of the skills acquired by the individual. Tutoring programs are mainly used with technical staff at our plants, for example to develop skills in both forming and packing activities (in France), or to allow operators to be seconded for a three-week training period

to acquire new skills (in Spain). We also offer training programs at our

plants for recently graduated engineers (such as the Pépinière program in France and the Management Leadership Development Program in the US), whereby trainees spend time in a variety of roles, interspersed with specialist training sessions, over a period of 15-30 months. Engineers are assigned supervisory positions in operational teams upon completion of the training program.

Mentoring programs are part of the management development process in Germany and the United States. Participating managers meet with their assigned mentor— with whom they do not have a direct reporting relationship—on several occasions during a period of 12-18 months. The meetings give mentees the opportunity to discuss issues they are facing at work, and to receive advice and support from the mentor, often in the form of customized action plans.

Verallia employees also have access to a range of e-learning tools. In 2011, a series of six technical e-learning modules about the glassmaking process were developed by

Verallia’s training department. The modules have been translated into several languages and are available to all personnel.

Finally, in each of its countries of operation, Verallia offers single-year or multi-year study-and-work apprenticeships for young people (who represent approximately 3% of our total workforce) in the fields of production, maintenance, finance, marketing and human resources. The apprenticeships combine high-quality practical experience with the theoretical training provided at school, helping to make the participants more employable. Some of the apprentices are hired as full-time Verallia employees upon completion of their course.

Our human resources teams and managers have a range of tools and processes at their disposal to support employees’ professional development. Annual appraisal interviews, for example, provide employees with an opportunity to talk to their direct supervisor about areas for improvement and training needs. Verallia employees also have access to an intranet site that provides information about internal job vacancies, allowing them to

be proactive in managing their careers. Annual “People Reviews” are held at the

team level in all of our countries of operation, helping to identify employees with the desire and potential to benefit from international experience. International assignments, which last an average of three years, deliver significant benefits for both the employee and the company: They provide a demanding yet undeniably enriching experience for the employee, both personally and professionally, while promoting the development of a shared culture, creating synergies, and fostering exchanges of best practices, all of which strengthen Verallia as a company.In 2011, 45 managers benefited from assignments abroad.

a responsible employercaReeR development

46 47

3. employee engagement

employee relations We recognize that labor union cultures and labor relations environments vary from country to country, and we adapt our approach accordingly, with the same strong commitment to ensuring constructive and balanced dialog with employees in all of our countries of operation.

In the United States, for example, for the past four years Verallia North America’s Labor Relations Director and the head of the GMP labor union have hosted a joint event for students at Purdue University to promote good labor relations based on mutual trust, communication and respect for employees.

In France, where there is a long tradition of social dialogue, an innovative agreement regarding union recognition was reached in 2011 to enable employee representatives to reconcile their union commitments with their professional development. Key provisions of the agreement include support for union officials at the beginning and end of their

term, training in the rights and responsibilities of employee representatives and access to high-level training in communication and economics at a leading French graduate school for labor union stakeholders.

Several other agreements have also been signed in France in recent years, reflecting a shared commitment to progress in areas such as gender equality, jobs and skills management, planning and profit sharing.

Finally, labor relations at the international level are becoming more structured as European labor organizations work together more closely.

share options and profit-sharing Verallia employees can access Saint-Gobain’s savings plan (where local legislation permits). Launched in France in 1988, the share option plan has been gradually extended to include nine countries, including some in South America. It enables employees to build savings over a number of years, based mainly upon Saint-Gobain share options granted at an attractive price.

In some countries, including France,

employee salaries can also be enhanced by incentive and profit-sharing plans.

increasing employee engagement through satisfaction surveys and family eventsEmployee satisfaction surveys were conducted in Spain, Portugal, South America and Russia in 2011 to measure employee attitudes and expectations. Survey questionnaires are completed anonymously by employees and cover areas such as work atmosphere, management, communications, pay, career management and training. The survey results have been reported back to all personnel, and action plans have been implemented to drive improvements in certain areas.

Verallia is also committed to involving employees’ families in special events so our personnel can share and take pride in their everyday work environment. Open houses held when a furnace is rebuilt, or to mark the completion of site upgrade projects (such as that which took place recently at the Azuqueca plant in Spain), provide families with an ideal opportunity for a site visit.

employee Relations and engagementa responsible employer

48 49

Demonstrating its commitment to social and environmental responsibility and reinforcing its competitive advantage in these areas, Verallia was the first glass packaging company to introduce a program of audits carried out by an independent body.

In 2011, audits were conducted at all of our sites by Intertek, a firm that specializes in the assessment of companies' performance in the fields of compliance, quality, safety, environment and social responsibility. With a network of more than 1,000 laboratories in 100 countries, and more than 30,000 employees, Intertek is a leading provider of social and environmental performance assessment and certification services.

The audit results illustrate our employees’ commitment to sustainable development: one-third of the 47 sites audited scored 98% or more, and two-thirds scored more than 92%.

The audits highlighted our excellent performance in employee communications, and our efforts to stop discrimination

audits: as transparent as glass

and to reduce our environmental impact through our programs to reduce energy consumption, CO2 and other emissions, and our structured approach to monitoring safety performance.

social auditsa responsible employer

Working conditionsWages and working hours

Health and safetymanagement systems

environment

Child labor Working hours Work area Documentation Regulatory compliance

Forced labor

Pay and benefits Emergency preparedness

Work-related accidents

Employee engagement

and profit sharing

Effectiveness of sites’ environmental

management systems

Freedom of association

and collective bargaining–

Equipment safety Audits and monitoring

of corrective actions–

Freedom from

discrimination– Risks Integrity –

Disciplinary practices –Chemicals and hazardous

substances– –

Work contracts – Cafeterias and break areas – –

The audits carried out at Verallia’s sites by Intertek featured more than 400 questions relating to five main themes:

50 51

AUTONOMY IS EMPOWERMENT

Our company firmly believes in the potential of glass packaging in mature economies and emerging countries alike. Our investments help to improve our environmental performance, and sustain and create jobs, allowing us to play a major role in the socioeconomic life of local communities.

Operating in different regions of the world requires us to understand and comply with

local legislation and regulations. Equally importantly, it requires us to respect local practices and customs, which differ significantly from one country to another. Decentralized management is a logical response that allows our facilities to benefit from a high level of autonomy and enhances the visibility of local operations while benefiting from the scale and strength of the global Verallia organization.

acting locally

52 53

Glass is a fully and endlessly recyclable packaging material and has intrinsic virtues that make it a very strong performer with respect to the environment.

endlessly recyclable

an animated film in 2009 aimed at primary school children and featuring two characters: Captain Cullet and the Little Gob o’ Glass. This education program, now also available on the Internet, presents the glassmaking process by guiding children through a glass manufacturing plant, underlining the benefits of glass and the environmental benefits of recycling. Verallia North America is also actively involved in Recycle Glass Week, which the Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) has organized each year since 2009 in the United States. This event, which now runs for a month, is designed to raise public awareness and inform consumers that recycling glass bottles and jars has a positive impact on the environment. GPI’s goal is to achieve 50% recycled content in the manufacture of new

and recycling, based upon the model already well established in Western Europe: consumers deposit glass in collection containers or bins; the glass is collected and transported to treatment centers; there it is sorted, freed of its impurities and crushed to be made into cullet; delivered to glass plants, the cullet is melted again to make new glass bottles and jars; the new glass packaging is filled at bottling plants; it is then returned to the distribution circuit, delivered to stores and purchased by consumers.

To raise consumer awareness about the importance of recycling, we conduct outreach programs both on our own and in partnership with trade organizations (glass industry associations).

For example, our Brazilian subsidiary has launched a recycling project in greater São Paulo, focusing on the collection of used bottles from restaurants, supermarkets, bars and shopping centers.

In the United States, Verallia created

glass packaging in the United States by the end of 2013.

As part of Recycle Glass Week in 2010, Verallia North America and the Green Broad Ripple Restaurant Association, a movement to protect the environment of Broad Ripple village in Indianapolis, organized the donation of 100 recycling bins for glass bottles and jars to Broad Ripple bars and restaurants.

In the Chilean capital of Santiago, Verallia is sponsoring the installation of containers for the recovery of post-consumer glass as a way to promote recycling. Also in Chile, Verallia has developed a program involving the installation of post-consumer glass collection points at customer sites, with separate bins for each color (green, flint or dead-leaf green) and condition (clean or dirty). Glass is deposited by our customers and crushed on-site using an easy-to-handle glass crusher. When the bins are full, Verallia collects them. The glass is then reinjected into the furnace

PROMOTION Of REcYclINgacting locally

Recyclability is a key characteristic of our material. A bottle is recycled to become another bottle with the exact same properties and qualities, resulting in a range of additional environmental benefits, such as lower energy consumption, reduced demand for natural raw materials and less waste sent to the landfill. Glass is also the ideal candidate for deposit-and-return programs, where returnable bottles can be reused up to 40 times and then recycled. After use, glass becomes a packaging waste that can be—and is in many countries—reused as a raw material by local communities.

The proportion of cullet used in our furnaces is steadily increasing, with levels as high as 95% at some of our plants.

Technically, it is possible to operate our furnaces on cullet alone. This, however, would depend on a high level of availability of cullet as a resource and complete control of its composition (recycled glass must be clean, i.e. not contaminated with foreign objects or

at our plant, with a target of collecting and recycling more than 50,000 metric tons each year. In 2012, Verallia Chile will open its own cullet treatment center, located close to our glass manufacturing plant.

In the United States, we have developed a closed-loop bottle manufacturing process in partnership with Boulevard Brewing, one of our beer customers, which collects post-consumer bottles and processes them for reuse. Recognizing the environmental benefits of glass recycling, Boulevard Brewing formed Ripple Glass, a dedicated glass collection and processing company, which provides a source of cullet for our local beer bottle manufacturing operations.

This initiative by the two companies to promote the use of recycled glass is accompanied by a commitment to the principles of eco-conception, as Boulevard Brewing is now using our ECO Series™ bottles for part of its production.

impurities, in order to guarantee the stability of the chemical reactions that take place during glass melting).

Because the availability of cullet is an essential part of our manufacturing process, we have made recycling one of the fundamental priorities of our environmental policy. Most of our plants recycle all of their glassmaking waste and, wherever possible, accept cullet from external sources. We have also invested in cullet treatment centers where used glass is sorted, freed of its impurities, and crushed to make clean cullet that is ready to be turned into new glass. In Italy, our Ecoglass subsidiary is the largest company in the sector (it processes approximately a third of the cullet derived from glass collection) and meets most of Verallia Italia’s cullet requirements. In Germany, we also operate a cullet treatment center at our Bad Wurzach plant.

In the United States and South America, we promote the concept of glass collection

rate of glass recycling 

approximately

68%on average

in europe

more than 33%in the

United states

54 55

1. Support for economic development Conscious of the value glass adds to the products it contains, Verallia contributes to a number of development projects by donating glass containers free of charge.

In Burkina Faso, for example, Verallia Italia took part in an agriculture and food project in the town of Boussouma. The project’s goal was to support economic development in the community by drawing on local environmental and human resources, and helping to create jobs for women as a way to provide income for their families and avoid displacement to other regions.

In addition to actions directly related to glass as a material, Verallia teams pursue initiatives to help young people reintegrate into local communities. In Brazil, for example, an employee at our Porto Ferreira facility taught a group of volunteers chocolate production techniques, thus providing them with an additional source of income. The workshop was held in a daycare center, and the chocolates were distributed to the children at the end of the session.

2. Actions to help seriously ill or hospitalized childrenMany Verallia employees around the world support charitable organizations and make financial and other practical contributions to help children who are sick or who have been injured as a result of conflicts or crises.

For more than 20 years, employees at Verallia’s Essen facility in Germany have supported an international organization

Agricultural production has increased and producers have diversified into such areas as preserves, particularly tomatoes, for which Verallia Italia donated 20,000 jars.

In Chile, in collaboration with the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, Verallia developed and produced a special glass jar free of charge for a product called Merkén, a traditional blend of Chilean spices. The glass packaging preserves the Merkén, enhances its value and makes it easier to market, contributing in turn to the economic development of the communities that produce the product.

called Peace Village International, which provides medical care and rehabilitation for a period of weeks or months for wounded and sick children who cannot be treated in their conflict-torn native countries. The charitable foundation, based in Oberhausen, near Essen, provides these children with the physical care and psychological support they need until they are fit to return home. Verallia Deutschland provides financial assistance and

cAPTAIN cUllET: NEW WEBSITE AND VIRTUAl PROgRAM

To promote our glass recycling education program, the Captain Cullet and Little Gob o’ Glass website was redesigned in 2011 and now also hosts a virtual recycling program.

The education program is run by volunteers at Verallia North America and GPS America, who work in the local communities where Verallia operates. In the regions where Verallia North America is not physically present, children, parents and teachers can experience the virtual program at www.captaincullet.com.

The animation introduces two new characters, Professor Flint and Plant Manager Amber, who take visitors on a guided tour using a variety of games and puzzles. In the first part of the program, visitors are invited to watch the two videos starring Captain Cullet and the Little Gob o’ Glass. The second part concludes with a quiz and a conclusion emphasizing the importance of recycling. Upon completion, children can print their own personalized Glass Super Agent certificates.

As well as the education program, the website features other animations and a Fun Stuff section, where children can download an activity book, coloring pages, bookmarks, Glass Super Agent badges and desktop wallpaper.

www.captaincullet.comFacebook : www.facebook.com/pages/Captain-Cullet-and-The-Little-Gob-O-Glass/148748345155406Twitter : twitter.com/CulletAndGob

55

community outreachVerallia community outreach projects take a range of different forms and include financial support for various institutions, in-kind donations and employee involvement in charitable and fundraising events.

OUR cOMMUNITIESacting locally

56

in-kind donations and also takes part in events organized by the foundation.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Blédina’s “petit pot” line of baby foods, Verallia France lent its support to an operation called “Une photo, un rire d’enfant” organized by Le Rire Médecin, a charity that sends clowns to pediatric wards in hospitals. The operation, which ran from May 9 to October 31, 2011, invited the public to post funny photos on a dedicated Facebook page. Blédina supported Le Rire Médecin and committed to funding up to 5,000 clown visits to hospitals. Verallia France publicized the operation on its corporate website.

3. Sponsorship of sporting eventsNumerous Verallia companies offer encouragement and support for sports teams in their regions, particularly in the United States, with sponsorship programs for youth baseball, softball and basketball teams; and in the Ukraine, with sponsorship for an international junior tennis tournament and a girls’ swimming team.

4. Support for education and training Numerous projects to support education and training have been launched at Verallia sites around the world.

For example, Verallia Argentina has partnered with universities to provide financial resources and training in technical subject areas, while promoting Verallia as a potential employer.

In São Paulo, Brazil, Verallia supports a project called “Menores Aprendizes” ( junior apprentices), which organizes training programs and internships for young people aged 15 to 18 to help them find employment and better integrate into society.

Verallia North America provides financial assistance for hospitals caring for children with leukemia, while employees at Verallia’s plant in Kamyshin, Russia donated medical equipment to a local pediatric hospital.

Lastly, employees at the Água Branca facility in São Paulo, Brazil, have formed a volunteer group called “Join Us” to create a sense of team spirit around charitable initiatives, such as organizing parties at orphanages, and visiting and giving gifts to children and teenagers with AIDS at local specialist centers.

acting locally

Publisher: Claire MosesEditor in Chief: Gina BehrmanEditorial: Kristel LiarçouTranslation: eFilesPhotos: Saint-Gobain Emballage, Bernard Gouédard, Saint-Gobain Vetri, Aline le Normand (École Boulle), Clémence Couchot (École Boulle), Arnaud Bouissou, Burwell Photography, Glass Packaging Institute, Gerolsteiner, DCM Associati Illustrations: Pascale TestanièreDesign & layout: www.ad-nova.com ©Paris 2012, Saint-Gobain EmballageAll rights reservedNo part of this publication may be reproduced

our CommunITIES

Verallia 18, avenue d’Alsace

Les Miroirs - 92096 La Défense CedexTel. +33(0)1 47 62 38 00Fax +33(0)1 47 62 39 55

www.verallia.com the many lives of glass