Flint cullet is the bottleneck
Clear-glass cullet is in short supply because most Indian consumer glass is colour-mixed at MRF level. Brands wanting 25%+ rFlint must contract directly with sorted-stream MRFs and pay a sorting premium.
§ KEY TAKEAWAYS
- 01Lock cullet contracts directly with sorted MRFs
- 02Flint commands a sorting premium versus amber and emerald
- 03EPR plastic credits don't cover glass — separate EPR rules apply
- 04Lightweight bottle redesigns offset cullet cost on freight
§ GLOSSARY
Technical jargon, acronyms and scientific terms used in this file — decoded.
- Cullet
- Crushed recycled glass added back into the furnace; lowers energy use and virgin sand demand.
- MRF
- Materials Recovery Facility — sorts collected recyclables into clean output streams.
- rGlass
- Recycled-content glass; quantified as % cullet share in the furnace mix.
- Flint
- Industry term for clear, colourless glass.
- Lightweighting
- Engineering glass bottles to lower weight without compromising strength; the dominant freight-cost lever.
