Imports of cheap foreign glass are “flooding the UK” and pricing regulation-hit domestic producers out of the market, a major supplier has warned.
Shipments from Turkey in particular have soared in recent years, undercutting UK producers who are battling extended producer responsibility (EPR) costs, found analysis of government data by UK glass producer Encirc.
Glass shipments from Turkey have jumped from just 214 tonnes in 2018 to 40,330 tonnes last year, representing a 19,000% increase.
At the same time, exports of UK glass have plummeted by 79.2% – from a high of 252,759 tonnes in 2018 to just 52,544 tonnes last year.
Just 21,303 tonnes were exported in the first half of 2025, in a a continuation of the “worrying” trend, said Encirc, which has a 40% share of the UK glass market.
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UK producers are facing rising production costs and EPR levies, added the producer, which employs almost 2,000 staff across three sites and supplies bottles to 18 of the 20 largest UK wine brands.
The weight-based EPR fees mean glass incurs “higher charges than lighter alternatives such as plastic”, added Encirc. The structure “unfarily penalises” glass, which is “infinitely recyclable and already widely collected in the UK”, it said.
Turkish glass does not have to contend with the same challenges. At the same time, it enjoys a zero-rate tariff on exports to the UK, plus access to cheap Russian energy.
Such a situation “only encourages companies to look abroad to import cheaper, lower quality glass, damaging British manufacturers and producing greater carbon emissions,” Encirc told The Grocer. The “uneven playing field” also applies to exports, the producer claimed, with higher production costs putting UK glass at a disadvantage.
The business added it was “investing for the future of UK manufacturing”, working to become one of the first manufacturers to utilise hydrogen provided by the HyNet NW scheme to create “zero-carbon glass bottles from 2030”.
Pricing data supplied by commodities analysts Expana shows UK production costs for medium glass food jars, for example, are down 1.4%.
However, costs in western Europe are down 6% over the same period, and by 4.2% in both China and eastern Europe.
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Buyers in key markets Spain and Portugal additionally had “strong inventories” this year, said Expana market reporter Andrew Woods, driving down demand for imports.
“It’s time for the government to stand up for British industry and close the loopholes putting thousands of jobs and decades of progress at risk,” said Encirc finance director Dwayne Nixon.
“This disparity actively incentivises the import of cheaper, lower-quality glass,” he added.
“It undermines British manufacturing and increases carbon emissions by encouraging long-distance shipping from countries with less stringent environmental standards. We need a level playing field.” The “last thing we need right now is a ‘glass tax’”, Nixon urged.
“When companies like ours are investing in hydrogen furnaces and biofuels, we don’t need policies that drive businesses away from sustainable materials. They are penalising the wrong bottle in all of this.”
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