Demand for pure, sustainable packaging continues to put spotlight on glass

In 2008, consumer demand for “pure,” “green,” and “sustainable” food and beverage packaging became more powerful than ever. As reports on chemicals associated with alternative packaging materials raised questions about the purity, health, and environmental consequences of certain food and beverage packaging, the spotlight turned back to glass, a packaging material that remains as pure today as it was 4,000 years ago. Glass containers are still the only packaging container the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has “generally recognized as safe.”

In response to consumer demand, leading food and beverage companies such as Coca-Cola began to again package Coke in glass containers for mainstream retailers, not just for limited releases. And, O-I’s Charlotte, Michigan manufacturing plant resumed the production of glass baby bottles after a 20-year hiatus.

Research within the industry continues to push for glass containers that are stronger and lighter than ever before, and innovative recycling efforts across the nation are helping to increase the amount of quality cullet collected for making new glass containers at manufacturing plants.

In 2009, the glass container industry will look to the future with an emphasis on more sustainable manufacturing and packaging processes, increasing the amount of quality cullet for closed loop glass container recycling, and educating consumers about the environmental and health benefits of choosing glass containers. Member companies of GPI will continue working towards the aggressive goal of using at least 50% recycled glass in the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars by 2013.

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Market trends and consumer education
Glass container recycling
Legislative impacts

"Glass has a 400-year legacy in the U.S. When it comes to delivering a superior container to protect the integrity of a food or beverage, nothing can provide that sense of security in packaging better than glass," said Joe Cattaneo, GPI President. "In 2009 and beyond we will continue to look at new ways to enhance the sustainability and quality of the packaging our member companies make.”

Industry Overview

The North American glass container industry production was at near capacity for the majority of 2008. GPI member companies Owens-Illinois, Inc., Saint Gobain Containers, Inc., and Vitro Packaging continue to receive an increasing amount of inquiries from food and beverage companies about making the move to glass in response to concerns about alternative packaging materials. This trend is expected to continue in 2009.

Glass Shipments and Production

Glass container shipments were down 1.9% from November 2008 (222,149) through November 2007 (226,524), according to the Department of Commerce of the U.S. Census Bureau (Glass container shipments and production are reported in thousands gross. One thousand gross = 144,000.). Production of glass containers increased 2.7% from November 2008 (231,438) through November 2007 (225,080).

Consumer Trends

In 2008, as health and wellness concerns continued to gain momentum, consumers began to make conscious decisions about purchasing pure and recyclable packaging. A survey conducted by Opinion Research for GPI found a majority of Americans (54%) believe packaging materials that cannot be recycled an unlimited number of times are not “recyclable.” In contrast, 41% of Americans believe a package is “recyclable” if it can be repackaged from one form into another. The poll of 1,000 respondents was conducted April 18-21 by Opinion Research for GPI and has a margin of error of +/- 3%.

“We believe these poll results show that Americans want stringent guidelines for recycling and do not want those standards to be ‘watered down’,” said Cattaneo. “In recent years there have been efforts within the packaging industry to change the definition of the term ‘recyclable’ to include materials that are really ‘downcycled,’ changed from one form into another. It is important that the FTC understand that most Americans know the difference and don’t want to see the standards loosened further.”

Consumer Education

Demands for “green” packaging led the glass container industry to focus on educating consumers about the “pure” and “recyclable” advantages of glass containers.

GPI initiated a new ad campaign in late 2008 highlighting the “PURE” benefits of glass containers for consumer health and the health of the environment. GPI also launched the first ever Recycle Glass Day on December 10, 2008, which will become an annual event to help build national awareness about the benefits of glass container recycling to save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and better the environment.

“We hope this awareness event will result in higher levels of glass collected for recycling and create positive attitudes about recycling overall,” says Cattaneo. “Recycling is an integral part of the cradle-to-cradle process of glass container manufacturing.”

Packaging Trends

Consumer demand for pure and sustainable packaging has influenced start-up companies such as Pangea Organics, True Artesian Water, and the Straus Family Creamery to choose 100% recyclable glass over competing packaging materials for its purity and inert properties.

Pangea Organics—an organic personal-care product company that uses sustainable manufacturing processes to produce, distribute and market its products—is busy setting trends, and the bar, for sustainable business practices for the cosmetics industry. The company was the first in the world to introduce 100% biodegradable, compostable and plantable packaging in its field, and also has chosen glass for several of its products for environmental and purity reasons.

Vitro Packaging, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company teamed up to develop new 12 oz. resealable glass bottles with the iconic Coca-Cola contour bottle shape for the brand’s beverages, which became available at the largest U.S. retailer in late 2008.

Glass continues to be the best choice for socially-responsible manufacturers and their customers—and differentiates their product in a competitive market. With the continued increase in natural and organic products getting retail shelf space, glass allows consumers to see inside the package, conveys a premium image, and ensures recyclability. Glass delivers unparalleled shelf impact, which can be enhanced by creative shapes and decorative treatments.

Thanks to modern glass container manufacturing techniques, glass packaging is the ideal combination of form and function. Today, glass packaging is up to 40% lighter than it was 20 years ago, and considerably stronger, making it more versatile than ever before. Glass bottles can be shaped, etched, enameled, colored, and decorated in infinite number of ways to appeal to key market segments.

Emerging Market Segments

The demand for environmentally superior packaging will likely continue to affect the glass industry more than any other factor. This challenges the industry to do more to reduce its carbon footprint and develop sustainable business models to have a greater positive effect on employees and the environments where factories are located, while simultaneously increasing its market share.

The consumer demand for “healthy” packaging will also be a viable market for glass in 2009. Health conscious consumers will continue to turn to glass packaging to ensure the purity and integrity of products. This is especially important for organic foods, which accounts for 2.8% of the total food market (according to Consumer Insight and Global Information, Inc.).

The wine segment will continue to be viable to glass, as consumption of wine is up 3.9% and the U.S. market is positioned to become the largest wine market by 2010 (Source: TTB, WBM, Adams Handbook). According to some reports, sales of wine in terms of volume are expected to increase 10.6% from 2007 to 2012. The US introduced 114 brands of wine in 2007 out of 307 worldwide.

Consumers will continue to turn to packaging they can feel good about, including minimal outer packaging and packaging that makes use of recycled and recyclable materials. Future packaging for foods and beverages needs to be re-sealable, microwavable, able to maintain the freshness and aroma of foods and beverages, and most importantly, be reusable. Glass containers meet all these criteria.

Amidst the current economic downturn, consumers will also look for ways to indulge in affordable luxuries and seek ways to reward themselves. Although consumers may save in basic categories, they are splurging on brand-name foods and beverages. Glass packaging connotes the quality image manufacturers are looking for, communicating a premium-quality feel that goes hand in hand with their product. Glass can make everything from water to milk to spirits an “indulgent” product.

Glass Container Recycling

According to the United States EPA, in 2007, 28.1% of all glass containers were recycled, up three percentage points from 2006. For glass beer and soft drink bottles, the rate was 34.5%, up from 30.7% in 2006, and 15% for wine and liquor bottles. This does not reflect the high level of glass recycling in states with bottle deposit laws and other legislation. For example, the glass container recycling rate in California continues to hover around 70% each year.

In North Carolina, glass recycling has also increased following a law requiring Alcohol Beverage Control permit holders to recycle all beverage containers starting January 1, 2008. Reports compiled by the N.C. Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance indicate that an additional 33,750 tons of containers will be collected for recycling through the program in 2008. Of the 8,500 ABC permit holders in the state, mostly bars and restaurants, 7,478 report they are in compliance with the law. Glass processors have also noticed an increase in the quality of the recovered glass.

At the curb, single stream collection of recyclables, where paper, bottles, and cans are all collected in the same container, continues to increase. According to a recent survey, single-stream recycling has grown to service 50% of the population in 2007 compared to 29% in 2005. This trend impacts the quality of glass containers recovered for recycling from residences, and compromises the use of this material for manufacture of new glass bottles.

In fact, a 2008 study in Colorado on best practices for glass recycling found that the glass capture rates for single-stream recycling may only reach 30%. It’s almost 100% for drop-off collection programs. To counter this, there has been an increase in optical sorting equipment at both glass processing facilities and material recovery facilities to remove contaminants from the recovered glass containers and to sort glass by color.

Recycling of glass and other containers in public spaces and at public events is also on the rise. Container recycling in New York City and Washington, DC is the start of a trend to recycle more on city streets. And in Monterey, CA, the city is collecting glass and other containers at over 75 annual public events. At their August 2008 Wine Makers Festival, for example, they collected over 5,000 wine bottles and 1,400 deposit containers.

Overall, the demand for recycled glass to reduce energy costs and meet enhanced regulatory standards for air emissions at glass manufacturing plants is fueling competition for high quality cullet from all industry sectors—container glass, fiber glass and flat glass. The squeeze for both more and higher-quality cullet across North America is likely to continue into the future.
 
Federal Legislation

The Recycling Investment Saves Energy (RISE) Act was signed into law by President Bush as part of the overall Senate financial rescue plan. It provides a special depreciation allowance equal to 50% for qualified reuse and recycling property, including any machinery and equipment (excluding buildings and real estate) which is used exclusively to collect, distribute, or recycle qualified reuse and recyclable materials, including software. The RISE Act also statutorily defines the terms recyclable material and recycling for the first time.

It is anticipated that this legislation will lead to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions for glass and other types of packaging, as well as lowered energy usage as recycled materials are more readily available and utilized. 

State Legislation

State legislators actively introduced bottle bill deposit programs in 2008. Connecticut, Hawaii, New York, Oregon and Vermont each introduced expansion legislation for their respective bottle deposit programs.

While the focus of these expansions was primarily plastic water bottles, non-carbonated beverages, such as tea and juice bottles packaged in glass, were also included in several of the bills. Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia also introduced bottle bill legislation that would include glass containers.

In addition to expansion legislation, some state legislators have proposed studies and analyses of existing programs, to help determine the viability of consumer deposit legislation for their states.

MSU Design Contest Winners Give a New “Twist” to Glass Bottle

The flint glass bottle has an organic UV coating, a 28 MM diameter 410 series closure, and an applied ceramic label.

A clear glass bottle with an upward swirling rotation (above) took first place in GPI’s glass Packaging Design Competition held fall semester 2008 at Michigan State University School of Packaging.

Designed to contain extra virgin olive oil, the winning glass package was created by the team of Christine Bingham, Nathan Sahr, and Robert Viney, which beat out 40 other MSU student teams. “We were surprised when it was unveiled as the winner,” says Bingham. “There were some really creative bottles and ours was so simple.”

MSU Professor Dennis Young (left to right), Christine Bingham, Robert Viney, Nathan Sahr, and GPI’s Rick Bayer.

“Overall, the quality of all the teams was excellent,” says Dennis Young, MSU Instructor. The competition is part of his Packaging 221 Glass and Metal Packaging course. “The winning design is aesthetically striking and it’s also practical. It works well for the product, and is a packaging that could actually end up on the shelf,” says Young.

According to Nathan Sahr, the design was the result of a “happy accident”. “We were messing around with the CAD program and it put an extreme twist in the bottle. We tried to fix it, but then decided it would be our design feature. So we started to tweak it a bit so that it could work in the real world.”

For the competition, student teams were able to select an existing product and redo the packaging or invent a product form scratch. “We wanted to pick a product where glass really benefited as a packaging material, “says Bingham. “And, packaging hasn’t really changed to meet higher end olive oils.” Sahr adds, “When you think of a premium or high quality product, it’s always in glass, so that’s what we were going for.”
 
GPI's academic program provides lectures on many aspects of glass packaging, but they are limited to one or two class periods. A class competition, according to Rick Bayer, GPI’s Academic Subcommittee Chair, “gives packaging students soak time to learn how the attributes of glass, such as premium image, can become very effective marketing tools."

“Glass seemed like an old technology,” says Bingham, “but after this project I realize it is the better choice for certain products. Plus, glass is so sustainable. It makes glass really competitive as a packaging material.” A reproduction of the winning design was created by Vitro Packaging at their Plano, Texas headquarters. It is made out of Lucite (Plexiglass-Acrilic), which is done to give a customer an idea of how the glass product will look. This will be displayed, along with the design entry, at the MSU Packaging School. “We really appreciate GPI’s support for packaging education,” says Young. “This initiative is an invaluable learning experience for the students.”

MSU faculty completed the first round of judging and winnowed entries down to the top 11. These went on to final judging by glass packaging industry representatives Craig Potts, O-I; Dale DeVore, Saint-Gobain Containers; and Efrain Karchmer at Vitro Packaging.

As first place winners, Bingham, Viney, and Sahr each received an engraved glass plaque, a $100 Best Buy gift card and enrollment at O-I’s Glass University.

GPI Announces Launch of New Consumer-Focused Website
Revamped Site is One-Stop Resource for Consumers and Industry

The Glass Packaging Institute recently unveiled its new website—www.gpi.org, featuring more resources for consumers and students, as well as industry professionals. The site is a one-stop resource for consumers to find out more about the healthiness, recyclability, and sustainability of glass containers, as well as updates about advancements in the industry.

“Consumers are more eager than ever to make informed decisions for a healthy and ‘green’ lifestyle, which includes the packaging for their favorite foods and beverages,” said Joseph Cattaneo, GPI president. “The new GPI website is a great resource for consumers to learn about the superior health and environmental benefits of glass containers.”

Also on the site, consumers can use the GPI’s Carbon Calculator to find out how much carbon they save from recycling glass containers. “If you want to make a ‘green’ resolution this year, recycling glass containers is one way to lead a ‘greener’ lifestyle and make a positive impact on the environment,” said Cattaneo. “Glass is 100 percent recyclable in a closed-loop system. Recycling one glass bottle or jar saves enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for four hours. That’s just one bottle.”

The GPI is encouraging everyone to recycle more glass containers. Member companies of the GPI recently committed to using at least 50% recycled glass to manufacture new glass bottles and jars by 2013. Using the EPA’s benefits calculator, the GPI estimates energy savings from using 50% recycled content in all glass containers manufactured in the US could save enough energy to power over 45,000 households for a year.

“Through this new website, we’re hoping to make more ‘friends of glass,’” said Cattaneo. “Friends of glass are people who make a conscious decision to choose glass for healthiness, recycle glass for the environment, and spread the word about the benefits of buying products packaged in glass.”

PACKAGING TRENDS

A Look Inside: Behind-the-Scenes with Winners of Recycle Glass Day PSA

GPI recently spoke with the winners of the Recycle Glass Day YouTube video competition—Michigan State University students Jonathon Beach, Stephen Gizicki, Joshua Lobert, and Adam Simon, and professor Dennis Young—about the creation of their winning video, what they learned about glass container recycling, and how they’ll spend their hard-earned prize money. Listen to the podcast

GPI launched the winning video as a Public Service Announcement on December 10th, Recycle Glass Day. Watch the PSA

“Smart Bottles” Help Glass Manufacturers and Bottlers Reduce Waste

The RFID Journal reports on “smart bottles” that use built-in active RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags and sensors that measure pressure, impacts, and temperature to help reduce glass breakage on assembly lines during manufacturing and bottling.

The technology is targeted at lighter-weight glass bottles and is being used by Ardagh Glass, Coca-Cola, Coors, and others. By placing a smart bottle on the assembly line, a company can identify the exact point in the process at which real glass containers would likely be damaged. More

LEGISLATION

South Carolina Introduces ABC Permit Holder Bill

South Carolina State Senator Raymond Cleary (R-Charleston) has introduced legislation that would require all ABC permit holders for on-premise consumption of beer, wine, or liquor to recycle their beverage containers. This bill is similar in many aspects to the current North Carolina law, and would grant a 12-month grace period for those unable to immediately comply. Additionally, all permit holders must provide a detailed plan to the state on how they intend to recycle their containers in the future when renewing their ABC permits. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.

New York Governor Includes Container Deposit Expansion in 2009 Budget Proposal

New York Governor David Patterson (D) has included container deposit expansion language as part of his 2009 state budget. This expansion is just one of many avenues being explored to try to close an estimated $12 billion dollar shortfall for next year. It is estimated that unclaimed deposits could total $118 million in 2009, if expansion to water, teas, sports and other non-carbonated drinks are included. A proposed 18% tax on non-diet sodas is also included in his draft proposal.

Oregon Container Deposit Expansion Goes into Effect

Starting January 1st, water bottles purchased in Oregon will come with a five cent deposit. Under the new law, consumers will be able to return any brand of beverage container to grocery stores that sell bottled water. Prior to this law, stores were only required to accept the particular brands of beverage containers they sold.

The Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC) has been formed to assist with logistics and the expected increases in returns. This cooperative is an expanded Container Recovery, Inc., which will pool money from all of the stores and pay back grocery stores the nickels paid to their customers.

Stores larger than 5,000 square feet are obligated to accept all brands of containers, if they sell the same type of beverage. They must also accept up to 144 containers per person, per day. Those under 5,000 square feet may limit the number of empty containers they accept for refunds to 50 or less, per person, per day. Additionally, these stores also do not have to accept brands that they do not sell.

GLASS RECYCLING

NYT Features GPI Recycled Content Goal and Benefits of Domestic Glass Container Recycling

In response to a New York Times article about the collapse in prices for recycled goods, the newspaper published GPI’s letter-to-the-editor and released a follow-up story about the benefits of recycling glass domestically, including creating American jobs and helping the environment. The story also featured the glass container industry’s goal to use at least 50% recycled glass for the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars by 2013. The article and letter-to-the-editor are a call-to-action for Americans to recycle more glass. Read the follow-up story and Letter-to-the-Editor

Indianapolis Commercial District Launches Bar/Restaurant Recycling

Broad Ripple Village, a commercial district in a north Indianapolis, Indiana neighborhood, began recycling glass bottles at ten bars and restaurants in September 2008, the first phase of a larger recycling initiative.

So far, they are generating about 7-8 tons of primarily amber and some green glass each month. Strategic Materials, Inc. is providing an 18-cubic yard collection container for the recycled glass, which is then marketed for use in making new bottles and jars.

Broad Ripple Village is providing inside glass bottle collection bins at each of the participating restaurants using funds they received from the Coca-Cola/NRC Recycling Bin Grant Program. Employees take the full collection bins and dump them into the roll-off container, which is housed in an alley convenient to the businesses. SMI hauls it about every other week at no charge.

“We’re working to expand recycling to the restaurants in the surrounding blocks,” says Brenda Rising-Moore, Owner of Union Jack Pub, who is leading the glass recycling effort. There are 96 bars and other eating establishments in the Village.

“At the end of November, we also invited the surrounding residential community to use the roll-off container for glass recycling drop off,” says Rising-Moore. With the addition of more restaurants and residential use, they expect to add additional roll-off containers in the near future. They are in talks with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management about grants and other funding options for additional inside bins and collection containers.

“I did the initial training of bar and restaurant owners and employees about the program,” says Rising-Moore, “but we’re going to have to step up with additional education to residents and outreach to the other businesses in the Village.”

1000 WORDS

Glass Bottles Get in Line for Recycling

Rochester Institute of Technology students submitted this PSA, which was second runner up, as part of the GPI’s Recycle Glass Day YouTube video competition. Watch now

Copyright © 2009 Glass Packaging Institute 

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