APISWA: Doubling Down on Glass Recycling

Glass recycling rates in most ASEAN countries remain low compared with other materials and regions, leaving producers dependent on imported cullet and governments under pressure to introduce extended producer responsibility schemes. For APISWA's member companies, sustainability commitments on energy, waste, water, sourcing and packaging are a licence to operate as much as a brand story.

The alliance's 2024 Sustainability Report included a deep dive into glass circularity. The launch had to do more than announce a document: it had to position the industry as a willing partner in communication and education to lift recycling rates, in Vietnam first and across the region.

Rather than a member company speaking alone, the strategy put the shared industry voice at the centre and surrounded it with independent testimony. Ruder Finn Era coordinated with the APISWA regional team to bring in industry partners, including glass manufacturers, beverage associations and environmental researchers, whose perspectives gave the report a policy relevance a corporate release would lack.

The Vietnam team wrote the press release, localised the report into Vietnamese and distributed it to mass, business and environment media, with regional offices adapting the material for their markets. The story earned features in tier-one print, online and radio outlets, framing extended producer responsibility as an opportunity for shared responsibility between industry, government and society.