Croxsons is a unique, family-owned company. To put it simply, we offer the best choice of glass bottle containers, closures and decoration to international food and beverage brands.
It’s an industry we’ve been working in for over 150 years. And it’s a success that’s not just built on our heritage, with each generation of Croxson adding to the achievements of the last, but also of understanding our clients. Getting to know each and every one. And, regardless of size or scale, offering a bespoke service that completely suits their needs. Combining a world-class choice of quality products with first-class service from friendly, knowledgeable people goes a long way.
Whilst our Head Office is just outside London, Croxsons is a truly international company. No matter where our customers are based, we provide the same standard of service through our global connections, strategically positioned in Europe, Australasia, the Far East and America. Work with us and you’ll see a different side to packaging. Encased, enclosed and impressed.
What Drives UsAs a family-owned company, we’re proud of our team. Led by Chairman, James Croxson, we’re dedicated to providing the best packaging solutions for our customers.
This is an industry we’ve been working in for nearly 150 years. And our success is not just built on our heritage, with each generation of Croxson adding to the achievements of the last, but also of our glass packaging experts. Our team combines a world-class choice of quality products with first-class service.
It makes for an old-fashioned, common sense approach to business, where we place great importance on our relationships. Like family, our culture is governed by treating our customers and colleagues alike.
Meet The Team
Decarbonising glass packaging will be a key part of the UK government’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050. We recognise that glass manufacturing is an energy intensive process but the future is looking clean – electricity, hydrogen and beyond.
Where existing furnaces traditionally use natural gas, we can already produce in furnaces utilising 100% electricity as the primary energy for melting, but we want to see this ability brought to the large scale production required by many of our customers. Plans are already developed and in-process to produce in furnaces powered by 100% renewable electricity, as well as furnaces utilising hydrogen. Having already trialled alternative fuels such as 100% biogas, we have delivered bottles with an estimated 99% reduction in carbon footprint, but with the same benchmarks for quality and performance.
As a fully recyclable product, with minimal impact to the environment once made, glass has a bright future. We are confident in the plans for and to help deliver ultra-low or no carbon solutions for our customers.
To mark our 150th anniversary in 2022, sustainability initiatives included funding the planting of 150,000 new trees during the year through environmental services company Ecologi.
Planting trees is proven to be one of the most effective tools to tackle the climate crisis, reportedly helping to undo over 30 years of carbon damage and keeping temperatures from rising above 1.5°C.
At the same time, we became involved with other projects that meet 11 of the UN’s sustainable development goals, addressing poverty, equality, economic growth and sustainable living with the oceans. As well as committing to reducing and offsetting the balance of our Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions.
Today, glass is 30% lighter, 70% less energy-intensive and emits 50% less CO2 than fifty years ago. The glass packaging industry continuously invests in optimising energy use and switching to green and renewable energies – to reduce the overall environmental impacts and manufacturing costs.
Although recycling is less energy intensive than the production of glass packaging, the rate is still very high. That’s why the sector has united to meet the EU’s 2030 decarbonisation targets, electrifying its processes with a mix of 80% electricity and 20% gas in the “Furnace for the Future” pilot by the Ardagh Group.
By 2050, glass production aims to offer fully climate-neutral packaging solutions in addition to being fully circular.
Although glass can be recycled virtually infinitely, this doesn’t happen in every country. The cost implications of heavy glass include a greater amount of raw materials and energy to maintain a furnace at a constant temperature.
Lighter bottles are not only cheaper to make, but production volumes can also be increased. Right weighting the initial design helps to improve carbon usage and emissions from each bottle.
Drinks and their packaging are often produced in different locations, so transportation can be costly too, with protective packaging adding to the amount of fuel required. And as younger consumers are increasingly concerned with sustainability, this is why more producers are changing to lighter bottles to ensure an eco-friendly supply chain.
We can’t do everything, but we must do something. That’s why we’re offsetting the carbon footprint of every single employee, alongside completing our journey to become a carbon neutral business.
Independently examined and qualified, our offsets are gold standard yet still go further, hitting 15 of the 17 United Nations Sustainability Development Goals.
Moving to Sutton has also enabled staff and visitors to travel by train, cycle in or walk. And rather than constructing an entirely new office, we used the vacant shell of an historic building in the town centre.
Distribution contributes significantly to the carbon footprint of container glass, but our partner Encirc has identified rail as a potential solution to reducing emissions.
With its railhead currently delivering raw materials and recycled glass, the manufacturer plans to create an ultra-sustainable transport network for glass containers across the UK, with the ambition to have 70% of bottles eventually leaving its Cheshire site by rail.
According to Encirc, a tonne of freight transported by rail produces 76% fewer carbon emissions and each load is equivalent to taking 66 lorries off the road. This will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of every bottle across its full lifecycle, and the emissions passed onto the consumer.
Not every customer will have capacity to receive deliveries by train, however this will help avoid reliance on road haulage exclusively.
PCR stands for post-consumer recycled content. Reclaimed and crushed into cullet, it’s then mixed with the raw materials of glass (silica sand, sodium carbonate, calcium oxide derived from limestone, and lesser amounts of other minerals) in varying percentages, before being melted down and moulded into new products.
This ‘closed loop’ process can be repeated endlessly without damage to the end product – and the higher the percentage of PCR glass, the lower the environmental impact. The quality of the finished PCR product is assessed on colour, heavy metal content and dimensional stability/strength.
Croxsons is partnering with Estal on products using 100% PCR content, which will result in significant energy savings, less extraction of virgin raw materials, and lower CO2 emissions.
Croxsons is one of the UK’s oldest independent glass bottle businesses. Our proud 150 year history dates back to 1872 when William Croxson established his wholesale bottle merchant business in London.
With the family name and family business going as strong as ever, we’ve seen a huge evolution of the company, especially over the last 40 years. Building on the vision of our Chairman, we are now well-established as an international expert in single-source, multi-choice glass packaging.
Today, Croxsons is a truly international company. No matter where our customers are based, we provide the same standard of service through our global connections, strategically positioned in Europe, Australasia, the Far East and America. We have come a long way.
Where It All BeganCroxsons firmly believe that we can’t do everything to solve the world’s ills, but we must do something. We are privileged to hold a great asset in our hands, and it is our responsibility to ensure that we do what is right with it, from treating our staff and families right, to being generous with what we produce.
The company and shareholders have a long-standing practice of donating a significant amount of profit to charitable causes, alongside their own individual giving. Research shows that typically the biggest companies in the UK only donate around 2% of their profits to charity, but the shareholders of Croxsons are determined that we can and should do more. We do not have to answer to big investment funds or many different shareholders, so as a family business, we can act and make a difference, be it local or global.
