In Portugal, 5 firms manufacture around 1.2M/t container glass p/a. Some 2,127 people are employed in 6 sites, operating a total of 15 furnaces. This is one of the few industrial sectors in Portugal where employees work a 35-h week, a limit which was introduced in 2000. The industry produces 11M glass containers daily, with 82% of production for drinks packaging. Competing materials are growing in some market areas, particularly so in the milk, yoghurts, water & soft drinks sectors. However, the delay on the application of environmental policies in southern EU countries gave new opportunities to glass packaging as consumers are much more environmentally aware nowadays, & if a product packaged in glass keeps a competitive price compared with the same product packed in other materials, then the customer gives preference to the product in a glass container.
