Learn How Recycled Glass Helps Entire Economies Reach Sustainable Goals

What do we see when we look through glass? The world around us? A sustainable future? Without glass, our world would be unrecognizable. It preserves, protects, displays, and illuminates. It’s been around since the dawn of humanity and will help shape a new civilization beyond this earthly one.

“We need to celebrate this miraculous material, because it can transform the world into a better place,” said Görkem Elverici, CEO of Şişecam, one of the world’s top glass and chemicals manufacturers. “Without it we would never have reached the moon, nor will we ever step on Mars.”

Şişecam’s deep roots with a material we all take for granted led the company to campaign for the UN to make 2022 the International Year of Glass. “Most people don’t appreciate the importance of glass and how it will help entire economies achieve their UN Sustainable Development Goals,” said Elverici. “We are helping to create awareness.”

A benefit to society

Hardly a building or vehicle in the world is built without glass. Glass optical fibers enabled a global communications revolution; they are the backbone of the Internet. Glassmakers have developed touch-sensitive covers for our mobile phones, revolutionizing the way we communicate.

It is used as a chemically resistant container for life-saving medicines. Glass sheets support solar cells for creating clean energy. Glass optics and optoelectronics in space telescopes can expand our understanding of the universe. These are just a few ways glass benefits people and the planet.

“Shaping this extraordinary material requires skill and expertise, and using it to continually advance civilization requires research and innovation” said Elverici, adding that the company invests over 1% of turnover in R&D. “We need to attract young people to the industry.”

If any company can achieve this, it’s Şişecam. The eyes of the company’s founder follow the CEO’s every move from the wall behind his desk. The massive portrait of Ataturk, visionary statesman and founding father of modern Turkey, reminds him of the vision and purpose of the company.

“After World War I, people’s lives had been destroyed,” said Elverici. “Ataturk did not want to build weapons of destruction. He was determined to build up the economy with strategic industries in the region such as glass manufacturing.”

Capital was sorely lacking at that time, so Ataturk’s first job was to build a banking system that was capable of financing the economic activities of the nation. These efforts paid off over the next century.

Now, Şişecam is one of the largest glass manufacturers worldwide in its main field of activities, and it is the only global company operating in all core areas of glass production. Currently, Şişecam ranks among the world’s top two manufacturers of glassware and the top five producers of glass packaging and flat glass. The company is the second largest soda ash producer in the world and the world leader in chromium chemicals.

A place of innovation

Growing up, Elverici loved hanging out on construction sites with his father who was a civil engineer. He decided to study engineering as well, but when he finished university, he went into banking, which seemed cooler at the time – less dusty and more compelling.

“Now, I’m in love with glass,” he said. “I would have started working in the industry much earlier had I known how exciting it is. I wish someone had made me more curious earlier.”

Attracting and retaining talent can be quite challenging in manufacturing industries. According to RippleMatch, Gen Z is most interested in careers in business, healthcare, and tech. Manufacturing and retail are the least appealing.

Clearly, organizations must change to meet the expectations of Gen Z, and Şişecam is no exception. As a major player on the international stage, the company has aspirations for growth as it expands its market share. But operating five business units – each with its own processes, organizations, and IT systems – made it difficult to reach its strategic goals.

In 2020, the company embarked on an ambitious project to unify businesses, processes and its 22,000 employees on a central, intelligent ERP system with SAP solutions for finance, sales, procurement, supply chain, and manufacturing. Şişecam’s wide-ranging initiative is among the most complex, ambitious, and agile business transformation program of all SAP projects worldwide.

Bringing together its HR function with operations was a critical step. Not only is it easier to hire top talent and help current employees thrive, but it also eases integration of newly acquired companies.

Ready for the future

Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 is a top priority for the scientists and experts working in Şişecam's R&D programs. Their development projects are focused on the efficient use of energy and reducing carbon footprint in the architecture, automotive, and renewable energy sectors. For example, manufacturing glass is energy intensive due to the high temperatures required to melt the raw materials such as sand, soda ash, and limestone, and the fact that glass furnaces run continuously for up to 20 years.

Şişecam is working on next-generation glass furnaces that will eventually phase out the use of fossil fuels through the use of electric and other renewable energy based melting technologies. In Hungary, they have already developed and built the largest electrically boosted container furnace in Europe, and a new flat glass furnace in Mersin-Turkey will be one of the largest in the industry with a production capacity of 1,200 tons per day.

What’s not to love about glass? As Elverici pointed out, it can be 100% recycled countless times with no loss in quality, making it the world’s most sustainable material. By continuously reusing it in a circular cycle, Şişecam is not only eliminating the need for new raw materials and reducing its industrial waste and carbon footprint – it’s leading the industry toward a new horizon.