nd, above all, more environmentally friendly. The benefits convinced the jury, and Echovai also won the jury prize.

The Vetropack Group Innovation Center has been researching the process for almost ten years. With Echovai, it is now possible for the first time to harden glass bottles in a thermally controlled manner and produce lightweight glass bottles economically. In the pilot project with the Austrian Mohrenbrauerei, several million of the lightweight glass bottles were produced and tested. The use of Echovai achieves a weight saving of around 30 percent for the 0.33-liter returnable containers compared to standard bottles. Additionally, the lightweight glass bottle was found to be significantly more resistant to abrasion than conventional returnable bottles. This pioneering achievement impressed the jury and Echovai was presented with the Swiss Packaging Award in the "Technology" category.

But that's not all: the jury also awarded the Echovai lightweight glass bottle its special prize. With its outstanding features, Echovai won among 21 nominated packaging solutions. Furthermore, its victories qualified the innovative lightweight glass bottle for entry in the Word Packaging Award, giving the Swiss development team plenty to look forward to. 

"We are incredibly proud of the accolades from the prestigious Swiss Packaging Award. The development of the Echovai solution was only possible with the determination and perseverance of our colleagues - and we see this result as an impressive confirmation of our work," commented Daniel Egger, Head of Innovation at Vetropack Group.