Glass bottle donations help students turn out ollalieberry jam—and a lot more.

At Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, students in the food science program packaging courses are taking “learn by doing” to a new level.

After GPI’s Rick Bayer, Academic Chairman, lectures on glass packaging fundamentals, students jump right in to formulating (in layman’s terms, creating a recipe) and processing product, filling and labeling glass jars, and boxing them up. “We’re always looking for ways to connect future packaging decision makers with the great packaging material—glass. These efforts are a model for how to do that,” says Bayer.

Their primary product is olallieberry jam. The olallieberry is a cross between the loganberry and the youngberry and is primarily grown in Oregon and California. Students also market the product, which is distributed to on-campus stores and in limited supply to local retailers. “But usually we never have enough to meet campus needs because they are very, very popular,” says Hany Khalil, Professor, Food Science and Nutrition Department, Cal Poly.

Using clear, wide-mouth jam jars supplied by Vitro, students create their own small manufacturing and bottling line on campus. According to Khalil, the Cal Poly food science model is to learn by doing. “This philosophy allows the students to do the work and make the mistakes necessary to really learn. They essentially become the link between the field and the supermarket.”

At San Jose State University, where Bayer also lectures, Verallia has supplied 4-ounce hot sauce bottles and closures to be used in a packaging class demonstrating application and removal torque at the school’s packaging school. And earlier this month SJSU instructor Dianne Heiler arranged with O-I’s Oakland, CA Plant Manager, Lloyd W. Taylor, for packaging students to tour their manufacturing facility. In the food technology school, Verallia has also supplied 12-ounce and 22-ounce long-neck amber beer bottles for use in a beer brewing class led by Packaging Professor Fritz Yambrach.

According to Cal Poly Professor Khalil, the donation of glass jam jars means that students can ramp up production and diversify. “Now that we have this generous donation of glass jars, and have an avenue to defray costs, we can make more products. We’re not currently making BBQ sauce, marmalade, and some holiday products, but we used to, and now we can get back to manufacturing these again,” says Khalil. More

Glass Bottles Capture Center Stage at the Dr Pepper Museum

If you want to know how soft drinks got the nickname “soda pop”, the answer to that—and a lot more—is at the Dr Pepper Museum, which opened to the public in 1991 and since then has attracted over a million visitors.

Located in Waco, TX, the historic home of the nation’s oldest major soft drink, Dr Pepper, the museum holds one of the finest collections of soft drink memorabilia in the world, including the evolution of the glass bottle as a package for Dr Pepper and a host of other soft drinks.

The permanent collection includes an example of almost every glass bottle Dr Pepper has ever made—from the 1890s to present. And unlike Coke, which stuck with their logo and bottle shape to create an iconic brand, Dr Pepper is known for a different look and logo change nearly every decade.

“We have a huge glass bottle collection,” says Collections Manager Mary Beth Tait. “It’s close to 5,000 bottles.” They’re stored on wall-mounted shelves, like giant wine racks, with the bottom of the bottle facing out. Numbers on the bottle bottom correlate to an electronic store-house of information about each of the bottles.

So how did “soda pop” come in to being? Dr Pepper’s earliest glass bottles contained a clay/glass marble in them to hold the carbonation in place. When a consumer would jam the marble down to drink it, it let out a pop. “That’s how we got the name ‘soda pop’,” says Tait, “because it makes a popping noise when you break the carbonation seal by pressing the marble down.” The museum houses a lot of examples of early closure inventions before they settled on the crown seal—the old style bottle cap. More

Verallia and “Little Bottle” Make Big Impression at Christmas Parade

On December 3rd, Verallia employees and their children decorated a float for Burlington, Wisconsin’s 29th Annual Christmas Parade. The float, which was among 80 parade entries, featured a Christmas tree adorned with 5 oz. Kikkoman bottles made at the local Verallia plant. The Little Bottle mascot walked along as the float made its way through the parade and assisted company employees in handing out Captain Cullet booklets, coloring sheets, trading cards, stickers and candy. The company’s participation in the event was organized by Verallia’s Linda Tuchalski and Denise Lois.

PACKAGING TRENDS

Bookbinder Specialties Taps O-I to Bottle its Gourmet Soups in Glass

In November, O-I announced a partnership with specialty soup maker Bookbinder Specialties, which has introduced a new line of all-natural, gourmet vegetable soups packaged in 15-ounce glass bottles.

Bookbinder Specialties conducted a series of consumer focus groups to determine consumer preferences in soup packaging. The findings demonstrated a consumer need for portion control and resealability, as many do not consume the entire portion typically found in cans. Bookbinder Specialties determined that O-I’s glass packaging offered an ideal solution to these needs.

"At Bookbinder Specialties, we are focused on providing the ultimate in quality and convenience for our consumers," said Sean O’Neil, president of Bookbinder Specialties. “Glass offers superior protection for the delicate flavors of our soups and is 100 percent resealable, locking in the quality and taste customers expect and making it an excellent packaging choice for our products.” More

Verallia North America Sponsors Green Wine Summit

For the third year, Verallia North America was a Gold Level Sponsor of the Green Wine Summit held recently in Santa Rosa, California. This event is a comprehensive forum to explore sustainability in the wine industry, from soil to marketplace.

At the supplier showcase, Verallia highlighted its efforts in sustainable development, with a focus on glass as an ideal packaging material, eco-conceived glass products, and sustainable manufacturing. This included showing off its expanding line of ECO Series™ wine bottles. And Doug Hesche, VP Market Development, Verallia, participated in a panel discussion on "Green Sales & Marketing: Packaging" with other packaging suppliers, focusing on the life-cycle assessment of glass, bottle recycling, and green packaging.

O-I Flint Glass Helps Urleiten’s Spring Water Achieve a Premium Image

In a bid to convey "exclusivity," Austria’s Urleiten is packaging its Alpine spring water in a clear glass wine bottle to emphasize its premium quality. The new bottles are produced by O-I.

The design of the 750ml and 250ml containers, made in extra-flint glass, is reminiscent of a classic Bordeaux bottle. The long-necked container—an adapted version of one of O-I’s standard packages, with the original conical neck straightened—differentiates the brand among the competition.

“Working in close collaboration with Urleiten, we found a cost-effective yet exclusive packaging solution for a niche market with limited production volumes,” says Lars Moche of O-I’s German sales team. “This project demonstrates our versatility and skill in small series production.”

The bottle features a stylish label displaying a colored circle to highlight the “Urleiten” brand name, and has a screw cap closure, preserving the effervescence of the sparkling water inside. More

Southern Oregon Wine Institute Benefits from O-I’s “Best of Glass” Program

O-I has donated more than 17,000 bottles to the Southern Oregon Wine Institute at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, OR. The bottles were shipped to the school from O-I’s glass plant in Fairfield, CA.

The donation was the result of O-I’s Best of Glass program, in which the company donates wine bottles to schools that teach about growing grapes and making wine. The institute’s director contacted O-I and was asked how many bottles were needed. “In many ways, this is a very, large national company that recognizes the work we're doing at the college,” said Chris Lake, the institute's director. “It just always feels good to have somebody say ‘yeah, we're doing the right thing,'” Lake expects the institute to use the bottles to bottle pinot noir in the next month or so. The wine produced at the institute is eventually sold on campus.

LEGISLATION

U.S. EPA Files Motion to Extend Timetable for Issuing Industrial Boiler Rules

The U.S. EPA has filed a motion with the D.C. Federal Court seeking an extension of the current schedule for issuing the Maximum Achievable Control Technology rules for industrial boilers. The requested extension would allow another 15 months for the EPA to release rules that aim to reduce air emissions from large and small boilers and solid waste incinerators. According to EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy, additional data received during the public comment period was significant in nature and the EPA will need to consider them prior to issuing any final rules. As proposed, the rules would have an adverse impact on glass container manufacturing and other industries.

The EPA has also posted on their website a “rulemaking gateway,” which is designed to help navigate proposed rules. Visitors may search for a specific rule by topic, phase the particular rule is in, or by date issued. Check it out

Ruling on Stationary Source Emissions Issued

A decision from the D.C. Court of Appeals was issued on December 10th, which denied industries’ request to stay the pending U.S. EPA regulation of stationary source emissions, set to begin January 2, 2011. The Court determined that the collective industries did not present a case that showed harm to their industries was certain, citing it only as speculative. Appeals and ongoing litigation into 2011 is expected in an attempt to rollback the newly placed regulations. Members of Congress have already announced their intent to hold hearings on various EPA regulatory actions beginning in January. Incoming Republican leadership on the House Appropriations Committee has also said they will investigate existing EPA programs and associated funding.

GLASS RECYCLING

eCullet Glass Recycling Facility Opens in St. Paul, MN

eCullet has opened a new cullet, or recycled glass, processing facility in St. Paul, Minnesota, its third U.S. cullet processing facility. Other locations are in Oakland, California and Seattle, Washington.

The St. Paul facility will use state of the art technology to process cullet sourced from the greater Twin Cities area. eCullet’s St. Paul facility has the capability to remove ceramics, metals, paper, plastic, and other contaminants from the recycling stream and also color sort incoming recycled glass. eCullet is currently projecting an annual volume of over than 40,000 tons from St. Paul.

1000 WORDS

“Choose Glass, Choose Health” Campaign Launches in South Africa

Consol is the largest glass manufacturer in Africa, serving customers both in South Africa and around the world. As part of its corporate values, Consol has made a commitment to promote glass packaging as part of healthy living. As part of that effort, they just launched a “Choose Health” awareness campaign. Watch the video