Germany’s brewers warn of a shortage of bottles in summer. “We see bottlenecks in the summer at the latest,” said the general manager of the German Brewers’ Association, Holger Eichele, the “Bild” (Wednesday edition). One of the main reasons is the sharp rise in costs for energy-intensive bottle production.

The situation is “extremely tense”. In addition, due to a shortage of truck drivers in the logistics industry, it is becoming more difficult to maintain the supply chains.

“Those who do not have long-term contracts currently have to pay 80 percent more for new glass bottles than they did a year ago. Some breweries are threatened with idling, they may soon be without bottles,” said Eichele. Consumers should return empties to retailers as quickly as possible in order to ease the situation.

The German Glass Industry Association also warned that the energy price crisis was posing “major challenges” for the industry. According to a spokeswoman for the association, energy costs have risen by up to 500 percent compared to the previous year. Energy accounts for up to 20 percent of the operating costs in the glass industry.