Expana proposes to launch two US spirit glass bottle indices and five UK Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) prices

Expana is proposing to launch two monthly Expana Benchmark Prices (EBP) for the US glass markets and is collecting feedback from market participants until Friday, June 13, 2025.  

If the industry supports this proposal, Expana suggests launching the monthly assessments on Monday, June 30, 2025.  

The proposed specifications for the assessments would be as below:   

Assessment Name	Code	Quality	Incoterm	Quantity	Currency	Unit	Publication Schedule
Glass spirit bottle (750ml) Index US EBP	GSBUS1	Glass spirit bottle | 750ml (340g) flint; 25% cullet; excluding moulds | Weighted Index for Glass Container Manufacturing Costs | United States | Expana Benchmark Prices (EBP)	N/A	N/A	$	Mt	Eastern Time, Monthly, Last Business Day
Glass spirit bottle (1l) Index US EBP	GSBUS2	Glass spirit bottle | 1l (460g) flint; 25% cullet; excluding moulds | Weighted Index for Glass Container Manufacturing Costs | United States | Expana Benchmark Prices (EBP)	N/A	N/A	$	Mt	Eastern Time, Monthly, Last Business Day
Glass waste aggregate PRN UK EBP	GAPRN	Glass waste for aggregate | Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) | United Kingdom | Expana Benchmark Prices (EBP)	N/A	N/A	£	Mt	EMEA, Monthly, Last Business Day
Glass waste re-melt PRN separate collection diff UK EBP	GDIF	Glass waste | Price Differential to Glass Waste Re-melt Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) | United Kingdom | Expana Benchmark Prices (EBP)	N/A	N/A	£	Mt	EMEA, Monthly, Last Business Day
Plastic waste PRN UK EBP	PPRN	Plastic waste | Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) | United Kingdom | Expana Benchmark Prices (EBP)	N/A	N/A	£	Mt	EMEA, Monthly, Last Business Day
Aluminium waste PRN UK EBP	APRN	Aluminium waste | Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) | United Kingdom | Expana Benchmark Prices (EBP)	N/A	N/A	£	Mt	EMEA, Monthly, Last Business Day
Steel waste PRN UK EBP	SPRN	Steel waste | Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) | United Kingdom | Expana Benchmark Prices (EBP)	N/A	N/A	£	Mt	EMEA, Monthly, Last Business Day

The proposed assessments and indices for the UK would reflect the transactable value at 16:00:00 London time. 

The proposed assessments for the US indices would reflect the transactable value at 16:00:00 Eastern time.  

The US glass market accounts for around 10% of global glass production, highlighting the country’s significance in the world container glass industry, especially in the spirits industry, with US spirits exports totaling $2.4 billion in 2024. The use of glass in the US spirits industry increases sustainability, elevates taste, and allows companies to maintain a premium brand where required. 

Overall, container glass is widely used and highly sustainable, and the new assessments for US spirit bottles would bring transparency to a highly traded, but opaque market. The proposed assessments would complement Expana’s existing container glass coverage and would give Expana’s subscribers a comprehensive view of input costs for the US glass markets. 

The Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) market is critically important for supporting recycling infrastructure within the UK, where members of the supply chain are obliged to buy and sell PRNs. Consequently, PRNs have a major impact on packaging prices in the UK and significant export markets, like Europe. The PRN market is a highly traded and volatile market, and the proposed assessments would bring transparency across several packaging material categories. 

The US index assessments would use a basket of underlying prices, based on a typical blend of costs for glass manufacturing to provide a reference price for the manufacturing cost of glass containers. 

The US index assessments would be rounded to the nearest Dollar cent using the rule that decimals of four (4) or less round down, and decimals of five (5) or above round up, e.g. $1.744 would be rounded to $1.74, and $1.755 would be rounded to $1.76. 

If you have any feedback or suggestions on this proposal, please send this to [email protected] by Friday, June 13, 2025 and clearly state which market note your comments relate to, and if comments are intended for publication by Expana.  

Expana will acknowledge receipt of all comments by email.