SGD N.A. Launches Infinite Glass, 100% Recycled Content Glass Bottles for Cosmetics Industry

After 18 months of research and development, SGD N.A., the world leader in glass bottle manufacturing for the perfume and cosmetics industries, has launched the first incarnation of its Infinite Glass line, Gaïa, which boasts glass jars and bottles made from 100% post-consumer recycled glass or “cullet.” In Greek mythology, Gaïa is a goddess personifying earth and symbolizing the ecosystem.

“The goal was to create ecological glass packaging with all of its performance advantages—compatibility, barrier quality, stability—while maintaining limitless decoration possibilities,” said Sheherazade Chamlou, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for SGD North America. “By addressing environmental issues, Infinite Glass is the perfect synergy between being green and glamorous.”

Infinite Glass containers are manufactured at the SGD Mers les Bains, France, facility. Extrême Paris, a French design agency dedicated to the perfume and cosmetics market, designed the Gaïa glass bottles and jars. The design plays with material movements, the fluidity of waves, and the balance of elements, and uses the sign of infinity. With the collaboration of four industrial partners, SGD N.A. recently introduced “Naya” which is the first 100% eco-friendly skin care product made entirely from recyclable and natural components.

“SGD N.A.’s new Infinite Glass glass bottles and jars represent a major innovation and environmental achievement for the glass container industry,” says Joseph Cattaneo, president of the Glass Packaging Institute. While glass containers for the food and beverage industries are made from anywhere between 25% to 90% post consumer recycled glass or “cullet” in the U.S., glass bottles and jars for the perfume industry are generally composed of 30% cullet and 70% raw materials, including sand, soda ash, and limestone.

Glass is an endlessly recyclable packaging material. Using recycled glass in the manufacturing of new glass bottles and jars minimizes consumption of raw materials, lessens the industry’s demand for energy, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Doubling the U.S. glass container recycling rate (28% percent in 2007) would allow manufacturers to use 50% recycled glass to make new glass containers, saving enough energy to power 21,978 homes for one year and removing 181,550 tons of waste from landfills every month. The glass container industry in the U.S. has made a nationwide goal of using 50% recycled content in the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars by 2013.