Today, December 10th, kicks off the Glass Packaging Institute’s first-ever Recycle Glass Day. To mark the day, GPI and its member companies will host a variety of activities across the U.S. designed to boost consumer recycling of glass bottles and jars. Read about a few of them:

• GPI announces winner of glass recycling YouTube video competition
• Glass industry announces 50% recycled content goal
• GPI releases recycling poll

“We hope this awareness event will result in higher levels of glass collected for recycling and create positive attitudes about recycling overall,” says Joe Cattaneo, GPI President. “Recycling is an integral part of the cradle-to-cradle process of glass packaging manufacturing. Every time a consumer recycles a glass jar or bottle, they help to save energy and our environment.”

Join with us in celebrating Recycle Glass Day. Make glass recycling a family activity or a part of your New Year's Resolution. Use GPI’s Carbon Calculator to find out how much energy you can save recycling your glass containers.

MSU Students Win National Glass Recycling Video Competition
Competition Kicks-off Recycle Glass Day

GPI is pleased to announce that Jonathon Beach, Stephen Gizicki, Joshua Lobert, and Adam Simon—all packaging majors in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University—have won the first-ever Recycle Glass Day YouTube Video Competition. Their winning video features stop-motion technology and the tagline, “Glass can’t recycle itself.” Watch the video.

“We wanted to emphasize the fact that glass can’t recycle itself,” says Lobert. “It takes other people to actually do their part to make the world better. Glass is a reusable material, so it’s important to recycle it.” GPI will launch the winning video as a Public Service Announcement today, Recycle Glass Day.

“This video really reinforces the message that each of us must do our part to make recycling happen,” says Dr. Susan Selke, Acting Director, MSU School of Packaging. “Glass is truly 100% recyclable, but only if it is delivered into a system that allows recycling to occur.”

Over 80 packaging sciences students from six universities—Cal Poly, Clemson University, Michigan State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, San Jose State University, and Stout University of Wisconsin—created videos to help build national awareness about the benefits of glass container recycling.

“We are very impressed with all of the entries we received for our Recycle Glass Day student video competition,” said Joseph Cattaneo, president of the Glass Packaging Institute. “The winning MSU student video effectively communicates an environmental call-to-action for more Americans to commit to recycle their glass bottles and jars.”

Winners participated in the competition in a class led by packaging specialist and MSU professor, Dennis Young. GPI will present the winning students with a total cash prize of $5,000, and will also present the MSU School of Packaging with a $5,000 cash prize.

“We are very appreciative of the continuing support of GPI to packaging education,” says Mr. Dennis Young, Specialist, MSU School of Packaging. “This opportunity resulted in great excitement, serious planning and creativity and a number of excellent submissions to the contest. Congratulations to the winners and all participants, and remember Recycle Glass Day!”

Judges for the video competition included Joseph Cattaneo, president of the Glass Packaging Institute; Conni Kunzler, recycling specialist and communications consultant for the Glass Packaging Institute; and Katherine Rowan, PhD, professor and Associate Chair of Communication at George Mason University. The videos were judged on originality and creativity (50%); communicating the "glass message” (30%); and production technique and value (20%).

Today, glass is the proven package for those who are looking for sustainability, purity, and recyclability. Glass is made from all-natural, sustainable raw materials and recycled glass also minimizes consumption of raw materials and lessens the industry’s demand for energy.

“People think of glass as just a package to drink out of, but realistically, glass has had a life form. The bottles are going to be recycled again and again and again,” says Gizicki. “Our video gives glass more of a personality and encourages people to avoid discarding glass in the trash.”

“Glass is 100% recyclable in a closed-loop system and the use of recycled glass is a critical part of the manufacture of cradle-to-cradle glass containers,” said Cattaneo. “By spreading the word about the benefits of glass container recycling, we hope to increase the amount of quality cullet for the manufacture of new bottles and jars and continue to improve our environmental footprint.”

GPI Members Set Goal to Use 50% or Higher Recycled Content for Glass Containers by 2013
Goal will continue to improve Cradle-to-Cradle Footprint of Glass

The glass container industry, its companies, and thousands of employees, recognize the growing importance of protecting the environment and conserving valuable energy resources. In recognition of the environmental value of post-consumer cullet, or recycled glass, member companies of the GPI have agreed to the goal of using at least 50% recycled glass in the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars by 2013.

New U.S. EPA data shows the glass recycling rate has already jumped to 28.1% in 2007, up three percentage points from 2006 (25.3%). An estimated 3.2 million tons were recovered compared to 2.9 million in 2006. Using the EPA’s benefits calculator, GPI estimates energy savings from using 50% recycled content in all glass packages manufactured in the U.S. could save enough energy to power over 45,000 households for a year.

“This is certainly a powerful statement by the glass industry about its intent to work with other stakeholders to improve cradle-to-cradle recycling,” said Rich Crawford, GPI’s Board Chairman, and President of Global Glass Operations, O-I. “Like glass itself, this recycling goal is good for consumers and families as well as the environment.”

GPI has long been committed to and engaged in promoting recycling in the U.S. Its member companies were early proponents of drop off collection centers and then later, curbside recycling. The industry has actively supported efforts to improve single stream curbside best practices that maintain glass containers as a viable commodity grade product suitable for bottle-to-bottle recycling. GPI plans to accelerate support of legislative and regulatory measures that will dramatically improve glass recycling systems in order to reach these environmental goals.

“The glass container industry has been a leading advocate of improved recycling in California,” says Mark Murray, Executive Director of Californians Against Waste. “We applaud GPI for setting an ambitious goal to take comprehensive, pro-active steps to achieve a higher recovery rate nationally.”

GPI and its members actively support on-premise bar, restaurant, and hotel recycling initiatives. More than 28% of beverages packaged in glass are sold in restaurants and other away-from-home venues. Glass container manufacturers also support innovative curbside collection practices and will continue to work with policymakers to improve and expand state beverage deposit programs.

“One of the outstanding environmental benefits of glass containers is that they are endlessly recyclable, and can be made with up to 100% recycled content,” said Joseph Cattaneo, President of the Glass Packaging Institute. “Reuse of post-consumer recycled container glass is critical to our glass container industry and its environmental and energy efficiency goals. This cullet use is also an integral part of the cradle-to-cradle aspects of glass manufacturing. We are prepared to embrace all measures that efficiently and cost-effectively improve glass recovery.”

GPI Welcomes New Members and Reelects Chairman of the Board
GPI Now Represents 95% of U.S. Glass Container Suppliers

GPI recently welcomed four new members to the association—Brian Bussell, president & CEO of Anchor Glass Container Corporation; William Kelman, president of Kelman Bottles, LLC; Scott Cameron, vice president of marketing for Cameron Family Glass Packaging, LLC; and Peter Leone, CEO of Leone Industries.

The Institute also reelected L. Richard Crawford, President of Global Glass Operations at Owens Illinois, Inc. as the glass container association’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees for another one-year term.

“The trends for pure and sustainable packaging have reenergized our industry, and we are excited to join forces with our new members to further promote glass as the package of choice for consumers and the environment,” said Joseph Cattaneo, president of GPI. “We’re happy to also report that 95% of U.S. glass container manufacturers and suppliers are now members of GPI.”

With the support of its new members, GPI will continue to serve as the voice for the glass container industry in Washington, D.C., and across the country. GPI serves its member companies through legislative, public relations, promotional, and technical activities. As Chairman of the GPI board, Richard Crawford will continue overseeing GPI’s affairs with approval of the trustees.

“We are very pleased that Rich Crawford has been reelected as Chairman of the Board for GPI,” said Joseph Cattaneo, president of the Glass Packaging Institute. “Mr. Crawford’s leadership approach and experience has and will continue to serve the glass container industry well, especially at a time when the advantages of glass resonate in a world more focused than ever on sustainability.”

Crawford, a 25-year veteran of O-I has served as President of Global Glass Operations since October 2006. Prior to being named to his current position, Crawford served as president of the Latin American division beginning in 2005. He also served as Director of Operations and Technology for O-I’s European Operations beginning in 2004. In 2000, he was named a Vice President of the company.

PACKAGING TRENDS

Seven in 10 Americans Plan to Recycle this Holiday Season
Poll findings help kick-off Recycle Glass Day

According to a new poll released by GPI and Opinion Research, a majority of Americans (71%) plan to recycle following holiday parties, gatherings, or meals this year, and one-in-four (27%) plan to make a New Year’s resolution this year to recycle more.

“We’re excited about the response to our first-ever Recycle Glass Day and people’s commitments to recycle more in 2009,” said Joseph Cattaneo, GPI President. “Recycling your glass bottles and jars saves energy and the environment as glass is 100% recyclable in a closed-loop system.”

The survey of 1,005 respondents was conducted November 20-23 by Opinion Research for GPI in conjunction with Recycle Glass Day. It has a margin of error of +/- 3%.

As part of Recycle Glass Day, GPI has also committed to using at least 50% recycled content to manufacture new glass bottles and jars by 2013. Using the EPA’s benefits calculator, GPI estimates energy savings from using 50% recycled content in all glass packages manufactured in the U.S. could save enough energy to power over 45,000 households for a year.

“The Glass Packaging Institute and its member companies have long been committed to recycling of glass and other materials,” said Cattaneo. “We plan to accelerate support of legislative and regulatory measures that will dramatically improve glass recycling systems in order to reach our environmental goals.”

Survey Methodology

The 2008 National Holiday Recycling Study was conducted by telephone, with interviewing from November 20 – 23, 2008. The sample consisted of 1,005 adults, 504 men and 501 women, 18 years of age or older, living in the Continental U.S. The survey was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, Caravan® Omnibus, with a margin of error of plus/minus 3.2 percentage points for the general population.

A Look Inside: Glass Dharma

GPI talked recently with David Leonhardt, Founder and Owner of Glass Dharma, a company that manufacturers environmentally friendly, reusable glass straws. “My ultimate goal is to provide glass drinking straws to 2% of the population of this country,” says Leondhardt. “That’s about 6 million straws. It’s a pretty heavy mission, but I’m working at it day by day.” Listen to the podcast

GPI: Hi Dave, thanks for joining us. Why did you create a line of glass drinking straws?

Well, I’ve been a glass blower for a number of years. Several years ago, I moved to the Mendocino coast and started working for a glass shop there, and I noticed that they had glass straws. I noticed how they were selling, and as a businessperson, I recognized that this was a good opportunity. It seemed like a really good item. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that ‘oh this could replace plastic straws’. And I started doing research on how much BPA is in most plastics and all that. I started doing research on how many straws McDonald’s gives out per day, which is somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 million, and that combined with eliminating plastic straws from the landfills, I just saw this as a project that could redeem humanity in a sense. There is not one solution to our environmental problems that we have, and there are some that seem apparently small, but if you count the straws that are used daily, it’s a mountain of plastic. It’s a mountain of plastic that goes into our bodies and a mountain of plastic that goes into our landfills. So I designed them to be as durable as possible. I’ve done a lot of research on the glass manufacturing process and I put a lifetime guarantee on my straws, so, not only do you have a straw that replaces plastic straws, but it would last you for life, because if it breaks, you can send it back and we’ll replace it for free.

GPI: Can you elaborate on the benefits of using glass straws?

Well, you know back in the 60’s, I was a boomer, a child of the 60’s, and we all had ideas of grandeur, but somehow we got defocused. I for one definitely got defocused and I got somewhat disillusioned, and so I didn’t do anything for quite a number of years. I went on my way and this is something that, like I said, when I started thinking about the straws and I started doing research as to how it can change, how it can be part of the change in our environment, I just got really excited and this has really turned into a mission for me. My ultimate goal is to provide glass-drinking straws to two percent of the population of this country. That’s about 6 million straws. It’s a pretty heavy mission, but I’m working at it day by day.

GPI: Where are your glass drinking straws currently distributed and do you have plans to expand your brand?

Oh yes, I sure do. You can get them at our website at www.glassdharma.com. A number of wholesale people here at the Living Light Culinary Institute, here in Fort Bragg, carry them and on their website. Greenfeet.com, rawfoodchef.com, greenhome.com, and bar supplies, actually if you go to glassdarma.com, I have a links page and there are a lot of links of other resellers that are selling my straws.

LEGISLATION

Michigan Container Deposit Fraud Legislation Passes House

The Michigan House of Representatives has passed a package of related bills that would require special markings on deposit bottles sold in the state.  It would mandate that stores retrofit their bottle and can return machines to read the markings and reject empties brought from other states.

Proponents say beverage distributors and the state are losing millions of dollars due to fraudulent returns on beer and soft drink containers for which they paid no deposit. These customers have figured out that the machines, used by larger Michigan stores, can't discern between no-deposit out-of-state containers and 10-cent-deposit Michigan bottles and cans.

According to proponents, the legislation would provide state funds to repay stores for modifying their equipment. It wouldn't penalize store owners who couldn't obtain the necessary equipment, or for whom state reimbursement wasn't available.

Blacksburg, VA Study Group Recommends Mandatory Business Recycling

The Blacksburg City Council is set to vote the week of December 8th on a resolution that supports an earlier recommendation from an ad-hoc environmental organization.  The “Downtown Recycle Study Group” recommended to council members that they create a mandatory, “pay as you throw” recycling systems for businesses located in the downtown area.

Currently, downtown businesses are not required to recycle.  Under the proposal, businesses would be billed from the hauler for only the amount of recyclables it sets out for pick-up.  The Study Group has also requested that the City Council establish permanent drop-off sites across the town, as well as provide options for recycling of food scraps.  Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam has indicated his desire to see these recommendations approved by the council.

GLASS RECYCLING

Northern CO Glass Recycling Drop-Off Program Expands

Loveland, Fort Collins, and Larimer County glass recycling drop-off program, which began just a few months ago, is already planning to expand.  
 
The communities have announced the addition of two new glass collection drop-off sites, bringing the total to five.  Community education about the initiative has also stepped up through a “Be World Class, Sort Your Glass” campaign.  
 
According to Tony Abel, Rocky Mountain Bottling Plant in Wheatridge, CO, which receives the recycled glass and partners in the project, they are seeing about 10-15 tons a month of high-quality cullet.  “We really appreciate their understanding of the need for contaminant free cullet, and that’s what we’re getting,” says Abel.  
 
With the expansion to five drop-off sites, Abel expects tonnage to increase to about 25-30 tons a month. To compare, the first six months of 2008, the City of Fort Collins alone collected just 25 tons of glass.

U.S. EPA Region 10 Responds to Contamination in Single Stream Recycling

U.S. EPA Region 10 (Pacific Northwest) has released deliverables and “next steps” from their year long initiative to develop regional solutions to the growing problem of contamination in commingled, or single stream, recycling systems. Deliverables include common terminology, collection guidelines, processing goals, evaluation protocol, and marketing tools.

The Contamination in Commingled Recycling Systems Standards & Guidelines Initiative convened stakeholders, including the Glass Packaging Institute, throughout the past year to develop guidelines that will reduce cross-contamination of recycled materials, increase the quality and quantity of materials recycled, and capture the highest percentage of materials that are intended to be recycled.

The initiative was the result of Washington Beverage Container dialogues to address how to increase beverage container recycling in Washington State. Learn more and download deliverables

Hawaii’s HI-5 Redemption Program Boosts Recycled Glass Shipped to Mainland

More than 1,000 tons of redeemable glass containers have been shipped out of Maui to be made in to new glass bottles since the state imposed a new standard for handling bottles in its HI-5 redemption program.

Recycling companies are still handling glass beverage containers, and paying consumers the 5-cent redemption value for each container. In turn, the state is paying the businesses 4 cents for each glass container shipped to a Mainland processor. This has boosted local efforts to recycle glass. Read the article

1000 WORDS

Saint-Gobain Releases Animated Video for Recycle Glass Day.
It’s “Gobs” of fun.

“The Adventures of Captain Cullet and the little Gob o’ Glass,” created by Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc., features the adventures of two characters attempting to help better the earth and environment by recycling glass. Watch the video

Copyright © 2008 Glass Packaging Institute 

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