Glass for Europe

The recycling of flat glass presents environmental and industrial advantages and should therefore be explicitly integrated into the Circular Economy Act. Incorporating recycled glass cullet into new flat glass production reduces energy consumption, as cullet melts at lower temperatures than virgin raw materials.

Glass for Europe, the trade association of the flat glass sector, supports a review of the public procurement directives to improve their effectiveness in supporting the sustainability goals, as well as contribute to the EU's resilience and energy security ambitions. Glass for Europe supports the following principles.

The European flat glass sector shares the objective of boosting demand but also production for glass and glazing products primarily made in Europe with minimal environmental impacts. Based on the flat glass sectors experience, Glass for Europe calls on the European Commission to carefully balance the extra administrative burden of introducing new labels and requirements with the marginal benefits expected from such…

Public procurement represents approximately one-third of government spending and over 16% of the EUs gross domestic product (GDP). When implemented effectively, it serves as a powerful mechanism to foster lead markets, drive innovation, and accelerate the adoption of low-carbon, European-made products while promoting circularity in supply chains.

Achieving the target on CO2 emission reduction of at least 55% by 2030 as proposed by the European Commission , will require drastic cuts in buildings’ energy consumption and related emissions. The flat glass sector will play a key role in reaching a zero-emission building stock: up to 37% of the total buildings’ energy consumption can be saved in 2050 thanks to high-performance glazing products .

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is the backbone of the European Union policy for energy efficiency in buildings. Glass for Europe, the trade association of Europe’s flat glass sector, believes that the EPBD should be amended (option 3) to translate into legislation the Renovation Wave and tackle the inefficiencies which have been overlooked during the 2018’s review.

Glass for Europe, the trade association of Europe’s flat glass sector, welcomes the proposal from the European Commission to enshrine in law the objective for the EU to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050. The flat glass sector has embraced the climate neutrality direction provided by the European Green Deal and issued in January 2020 its 2050 vision to maximize its contributions to this societal objective.

Climate Law The first step towards carbon neutrality Europe’s flat glass sector is working in the climate neutrality direction provided by the European Green Deal published on 11 December 2019. The European flat glass sector takes it as its role to produce at a competitive price the materials essential for renovating Europe’s buildings, for supporting the clean mobility transition and for increasing the share of…

JULY 2025 Designing an EU ETS post-2030 framework is urgent to restore a business case for sustainable flat glass manufacturing in Europe The European flat glass sector is key to achieving the EU’s decarbonisation goals and the recently proposed target of a 90% reduction in GHG by 2040 1.

Opening of the attached position paper · the full paper is on the Commission’s record (source link above)

Glass for Europe welcomes the European Commission’s initiative on Environmental product performances’ claims and supports the objective to limit the number of methods to evaluate the environmental impacts of the products. The roadmap highlights the central role of the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methods to reach this objective.

Glass for Europe, the trade association of Europe’s flat glass sector, welcomes the opportunity to comment on the European Commission’s proposal for a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. The European flat glass sector views its role as the producer of materials essential for renovating Europe’s buildings, for supporting the clean mobility transition and for increasing the share of renewable solar energy in Europe.

Glass for Europe, the trade association of Europe’s flat glass sector, takes note that the European Commission is considering tabling a legislative proposal to introduce a carbon border adjustment mechanism in EU law. Flat glass manufacturing is an energy intensive activity covered under the EU ETS and the flat glass sector is considered at high risk of carbon leakage.

The European flat glass sector takes it as its role to produce the materials essential for renovating Europe’s buildings, for supporting the clean mobility transition and for increasing the share of renewable solar energy in Europe.

Glass for Europe, the trade association of Europe’s flat glass sector, believes that an upwards revision of the 2030 Energy Efficiency target is necessary to align energy efficiency measures to the increased climate ambition.

The European flat glass sector takes it as its role to produce the materials essential for renovating Europe’s buildings, for supporting the clean mobility transition and for increasing the share of renewable solar energy in Europe.

Glass for Europe welcomes the opportunity to comment on the roadmap leading to the review of the EU ETS Directive to align with the 2030’s new climate target. The roadmap announces that an assessment is conducted to evaluate how the increased ambition in the EU ETS and the extension of its scope may impact the risk of carbon leakage in the different industrial sectors.

AUGUST 2025 Accompanying paper to the consultation on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism – downstream extension, additional anti-circumvention measures and rules for the electricity sector The flat glass sector is an EU ETS sector exposed to carbon leakage. It is also a hard-to-abate industry.

Opening of the attached position paper · the full paper is on the Commission’s record (source link above)

As the EU trade association representing building glass manufacturers and fabricators in Europe, Glass for Europe welcomes the new CPR proposal since it reinforces the single market principles for construction products and supports the construction industry’s move towards greater sustainability.

The European flat glass sector takes it as its role to produce the materials essential for renovating Europe’s buildings, for supporting the clean mobility transition and for increasing the share of renewable solar energy in Europe.

The draft revised delegated act marks a step forward by proposing an increase to the current threshold. However, a single pan-European maximum U-value of 1.2 (W/m² K) for windows remains a significant limitation. While the manufacturing capacity is not an issue, a maximum U-value of 1.2 (W/m² K) is not fully appropriate for all European climates.

Glass for Europe welcomes the European Commissions (EC) proposal for a revision of Directive 96/53/EC (COM(2023) 445/2) but considers that additional improvements are needed to increase logistic efficiency and reduce transports CO2 emissions in the EU. European flat glass manufacturers organize thousands of transports every year to deliver products to their customers.

Glass for Europe, the trade association for Europe’s flat glass sector, would like to thank the commission for this opportunity to provide feedback. While the harmonization aimed at by Directive 96/53/EC is welcomed to realize the internal market in practice, the minimum harmonization approach gives rise to limitations that prevent optimization of transport flows of flat glass products.

Glass for Europe welcomes the proposal to revise the legislation on end-of-life vehicles and is encouraged by the positive developments leading to enhanced circularity for automotive flat glass. We support the alignment of the definition of recycling with the Waste Framework Directive, which paves the way for more legislative coherence.

Glass for Europe, the trade association of the EU flat glass sector, has long been involved in the standardisation of building glass products and welcomes the opportunity to give feedback on the planned revision of Regulation (EU) 1025/2012, based on our experience in CEN and ISO. The attached contribution outlines four key recommendations to improve the current functioning of the EU standardisation framework.

Please find attached Glass for Europe's feedback regarding the upcoming initiative on housing simplification. It is organised around four themes: - Energy efficiency as a driver of affordability - Renovation as a means of increasing supply - Simplified funding schemes to support renovation and refurbishment - Simplified procedures for conversion and repurposing

Glass for Europe, the trade association representing the flat glass sector in Europe, welcomes the European Commission's commitment to developing an integrated framework for climate resilience and risk management.

Glass for Europe, the trade association of the EU flat glass sector, welcomes the opportunity to comment on the draft Digital Product Passport (DPP) Registry implementing act. Flat glass products used in buildings will be required to have a DPP as soon as they are covered by the Construction Products Regulations of 2024.

Please find attached the contribution of Glass for Europe, the trade association for Europes flat glass sector. Flat glass is the material that goes into a variety of end products, primarily in windows and facades for buildings, windscreens and windows for automotive and transport as well as solar energy equipment, furniture and appliances.

In the February 2024 communication, the European Commission explicitly recognises dynamic optically transparent and glazing technologies as advanced materials. These technologies qualify as advanced materials as they enable energy-efficient buildings, clean mobility, enhance occupant wellbeing, and increase circularity and overall environmental performance.

Glass for Europe is the trade association for Europes flat glass sector. Flat glass is the material that goes into a variety of end products, primarily in windows and facades for buildings, windscreens and windows for automotive and transport as well as solar energy equipment, furniture and appliances.

The European flat glass industry welcomes the European Commissions draft delegated act implementing the Waste Shipment Regulation and its approach to the green-listing of waste destined for recovery within the EU.

The European flat glass sector takes it as its role to produce the materials essential for renovating Europe’s buildings, for supporting the clean mobility transition and for increasing the share of renewable solar energy in Europe.

Glass for Europe welcomes the opportunity to comment on this draft delegated act on declaration without testing of reaction to fire. Considering that Article 1 offers a clear set of provisions to address building glass products, Glass for Europe recommends deleting the Notes for the material "Glass" in Table 1 of the Annex ("Including heat strengthened, chemically toughened, laminated and wired glass").