In Germany, beer bottles are becoming scarce. According to breweries, there should be bottlenecks by summer at the latest. The situation is extremely tense, which is why consumers should return their empties as soon as possible.

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 don’t have long-term contracts currently have to pay 80 percent more for new glass bottles than they did a year ago. Some breweries are at risk of going idle, they may soon be without bottles,” said Eichele. Consumers should return empties to retailers as quickly as possible 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.

The deputy head of the Berlin-Brandenburg brewery association, Stefan Fritsche, said that the shortage of bottles mainly affected small and medium-sized breweries. “This threatens diversity on the German beer market,” said Fritsche of “Bild”.