Glass light-weighting projects may be cutting materials by up to 25%, but brand owners and fillers expecting a comparable reduction in prices are likely to be disappointed. Glass makers including OI and Ardagh have been working to reduce bottle and jar weights across different sectors as brands position themselves as environmentally responsible and energy efficient. However, Sharon Crayton, marketing manager at Ardagh, which has worked on the new Grolsch beer bottle, said more engineering and technical work needs to be done on specifications and moulds. This may mean that prices to customers changed only minimally, or not at all She added: "Energy prices have been very high, so we've been looking to recover those costs too." Both glass firms insisted they could take lightweighting further but brands were wary of reducing size and on-shelf presence.
