The Draft Standard: Preliminary proposals – April Newsletter

March 30, 2026

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The Draft Standard: Preliminary proposals

Next month marks an important step forward for ResponsibleGlass.

In early April, we will share the preliminary proposals for the Draft Standard with Members and Supporters.

This draft serves as the foundational scope document for the ResponsibleGlass Standard and is intended as a working draft designed to be tested and improved with input and feedback from our members and supporters. It sets out the first structured view of what responsible glass production could look like in practice – across responsible sourcing, greenhouse gas emissions, circularity, and chain of custody.

As with all credible standards, this is not a finished product. It is the start of a process.

New Project: Responsible Sourcing of Silica Sand

ResponsibleGlass has launched a major new project focused on the responsible sourcing of silica sand — the primary raw material used in glassmaking.

Sand is the world’s most extracted resource, and in some contexts, extraction is linked to significant environmental and social risks. With around 75% of glass by volume made from silica, responsible sourcing is fundamental to responsible glass.

The first phase of the project will:

Map the global footprint of silica sand used in glassmaking
Analyse supply chains and traceability
Assess environmental and social impacts

A second phase – exploring how existing mining standards can be applied or adapted for silica sand extraction – will be launched later in the year, subject to funding.

We are working in collaboration with organisations including IRMA, ARM and the Coalition for Responsible Sand and Silicates to ensure alignment and credibility, with the findings feeding directly into the ResponsibleGlass Standard.

What does responsible glass production look like in practice?

The ResponsibleGlass team recently visited Ciner Glass’s next-generation container glass plant in Lommel, Belgium.

The visit offered a clear view of where the industry is heading:

Lower emissions
Higher recycled content (cullet)
More efficient use of raw materials

We met teams across the business to explore how sustainability is being implemented on the ground.

These insights are critical as we develop a standard that is not only ambitious, but workable in real-world settings – a principle strongly reinforced through stakeholder engagement to date .

As a Founding Member, Ciner Glass will continue to play an important role in shaping the development of the ResponsibleGlass Standard.

We are eager to visit as many of our Members as possible to gain a deeper understanding of their business and meet the teams on the ground. These visits can provide a fantastic opportunity to jointly discuss key topics relating to the development of the ResponsibleGlass Standard, and also to coordinate joint media and communications efforts. If you are open to hosting us for a site visit, please get in touch.

Meet the People Behind ResponsibleGlass

Did you miss our recent introduction to the team?

ResponsibleGlass is being shaped by a growing group of leaders with deep expertise across sustainability, standards development and the glass value chain.

This includes:

Francis Sullivan, Chair
Ali Lucas, Project Director
Matthew Wenban-Smith, Standards Lead
Mike Greenall, Technical Adviser
Ludovic Valette, Container Glass Adviser
Aeman Junaid, Standards Consultant

Together they’re driving a new era of transparency, decarbonisation, circularity and social responsibility in an industry responsible for millions of tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.