A majority of consumers now make their shopping decisions while standing in front of store shelves. They’re drawn to product packages that visually "pop." "Consumers are looking for what’s new," says Kimberly Drosos, director of package development at Unilever North America, which recently won a GPI Clear Choice Award for its contoured Bertolli Organic Pasta Sauce package. That means the average life of a package before a makeover is now down to two years from about seven years in the 1990s.

Redesigned glass packages are creating a distinct shelf appeal. Check these out:

Bertolli uses a unique bottle shape to drive brand recognition.	Coors Light gets the label to change color when the glass bottle is chilled to perfection.	Frützzo uses their glass package to get consumers to think "organic"

SUSTAINABILITY

Wine Takes the Weight Off in the UK

According to WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), the light-weighting of glass bottles in the UK wine industry could save around 6,000 tons of glass packaging every year. "It is great to see the wine industry making such significant progress on optimizing packaging which will have environmental, consumer and economic benefits," said WRAP glass technology manager Andy Dawe.

Wine brand owners, such as Constellation Europe and PLB Wines, have confirmed they plan to use lighter weight bottles for wine. With nearly 90 million wine bottles estimated to be affected, this light-weighting effort could save enough carbon emissions equivalent to taking around 2,500 cars off the road. These efforts are part of WRAP’s GlassRite Wine project. Learn more

LEGISLATION

California Assembly Bans Pb-bearing Materials for Glass Bottle Decoration

The California Assembly has passed S. 774, which bans the use of lead-bearing colors for glass bottles distributed in the state. The CA Senate passed the bill earlier in the year and it now goes to Governor Schwarzenegger. It applies to decorating materials that contain lead or lead compounds in excess of 0.06% Pb by weight. Glass containers most likely to be affected by this legislation are returnable bottle imports from Mexico and Central and South America. Read the bill

Senator Lieberman Introduces Climate Change Draft Legislation

Before August recess, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) introduced draft language of a climate change bill he intends to formally introduce this Fall. The bill is designed to reduce heat-trapping gases (greenhouse gases) 60% - 80% by 2050. It is expected that this bill, as well as S. 1776, the Low Carbon Economy Act, and a future Environment and Public Works Committee bill will all be given considerable merit.

Congressional Recycling Caucus Grows

Almost 90 members of the House of Representatives and 18 Senators have joined the Congressional Recycling Caucus since the start of the 110th Congress. The Caucus goal is to promote recycling through education on Capitol Hill and to advance legislation that benefits recycling. View the Caucus list and encourage your Representatives to join

GLASS RECYCLING

RecycleBank Expands to Points North and South

Recycle and get a coupon for your next latte, book, toy, or flower purchase. That’s the concept behind RecycleBank, which gives store coupons to residents as an incentive for recycling paper and containers, including glass bottles, at the curb. And it’s about to get a lot bigger.

Now operating in parts of Delaware, southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the company plans to expand in early 2008 to Massachusetts, upstate New York, and Vermont, increasing membership to 100,000 homes. In second quarter of 2008 they plan to advance into the Carolinas and Georgia, with a national reach expected by 2009.

RecycleBank partners with MRF operators who, according to Ron Gonen, company Co-Founder and CEO, "want to divert material from landfill to an economical and environmental use for the recycled materials." In Philadelphia, glass containers are being recycled at the Green Mountain Glass, a subsidiary of Casella Waste Systems, Inc.

Recycled Glass Bottles Help Restore Beaches

Broward County is hoping to combat beach erosion, after successive hurricanes, with a combination of pulverized glass from recycling programs blended with natural beach sand. The pilot project, funded in part through a matching grant from the Florida DEP, is proving successful, and the County is pursing a permit to place beach-quality pulverized glass directly into the surf. Listen to the story on NPR’s Morning Edition

UK Company Targets Glass Bottle Recycling at Bars/Restaurants

A UK start-up, Smash and Grab Glass Recycling Ltd., is using a glass compactor, called the "Little Smasher," to recycle glass bottles at restaurants and bars. Currently 50 retailers are using the compactor on premise. The Little Smasher, which is about the size of a small dishwasher, reduces the volume of wine and beer bottles by 80%. Since June 2006, they have ramped up to collect about 800 tons of glass annually, but expect that to increase rapidly.

The recovered glass is now marketed for use in aggregates and road fill, but Smash and Grab is in talks with glass processor to ensure the glass is used for new bottles. According to the company’s managing director, the goal is to "close the loop properly and turn the cullet back into glass bottles". For that option to be viable, they need to collect about 2,500 tons/year. Read more

Planning for Quality Single Stream Recycling

The first of a four-part series in the August 2007 issue of Resource Recycling introduces the concepts and tools a community needs to take charge of the process when planning for single stream recycling. "Rethinking Single-Stream Recycling" aims to help communities "get it right" the first time, aim for high quality, and ensure materials get recycled. View the article

1000 WORDS

Glass doesn’t belong in the trash! Recycle your glass bottles and help the environment. Watch the video

Copyright © 2007 Glass Packaging Institute 

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