Upping the Ante, Glass Industry Actively Seeks More Bottles for Recycling

The North American glass container industry worked diligently in 2009 to create more recycling awareness and improve recycled glass collection for bottle-to-bottle recycling, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use of raw materials, extend the life of glass manufacturing furnaces, save energy, and meet the industry’s 50% recycled content goal by 2013. In the U.S., there are 50 glass container manufacturing plants and 74 facilities that process glass for recycling.

Doubling the U.S. glass container recycling rate (28% in 2008) would allow manufacturers to use 50% recycled glass or “cullet” 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 goal of using 50% cullet in the manufacture of new glass containers by 2013 was the impetus behind the Glass Packaging Institute’s 2009 Recycle Glass Week. More than 50 educational activities and public events in 22 states brought in over 20 tons of glass for bottle-to-bottle recycling, built awareness about the environmental benefits of recycling glass containers, and led to permanent collection locations for glass bottles and jars in Colorado and Indiana.

In 2010, the glass container industry will intensify its efforts to make U.S. glass container recycling successful. This includes helping to improve curbside recycling programs, expand drop-off collection, initiate more on-premise recycling, and build on state bottle deposit programs.

Get details on the 2010 outlook for glass containers:

PACKAGING TRENDS

British Designer Paul Smith Fashions New Evian Glass Water Bottle

Evian Natural Spring Water has partnered with brilliant British fashion designer Sir Paul Smith on a new limited edition 750 mL glass bottle. The glass bottle is manufactured by Owens-Illinois and is decorated by Saga Décor (a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain Emballage). According to Smith, “It is a nice glass bottle with colourful stripes around the top, printed with organic ink!”

Smith’s design is the third in a series of designer bottles for Evian’s latest youth-oriented ad campaign, “Live Young,” following one by Christian Lacroix in 2008 and last year's model by Jean Paul Gaultier. The bottle comes with five different collectible caps, and is available online at www.ShopEvian.com as well as in fine restaurants, hotels, concept stores, and wellness centers in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami in the U.S.

Watch Paul Smith’s video for Evian

Glass Industry Adapts HACCP Protocols for Glass Containers

Food safety—from spinach to peanut butter—is an ongoing concern for American consumers, and those across the globe. To compete in a world market and reduce barriers to international trade, more food manufacturers, packagers. and distributors are adopting well-established Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) standards.

HACCP is an international protocol to identify and manage risks in the food supply chain. It is recognized as the primary food safety standard for many countries, and also holds packaging companies responsible for ensuring that packaging materials do not compromise food safety.

As many glass container customers have asked their packaging suppliers, including glass suppliers, to adopt the approach, the GPI formed a task group to develop a proactive product safety program for glass container industry HACCP implementation.

The result is a generic, voluntary Glass Container HACCP Program that’s suitable and tailored for the many different types of glass container manufacturing operations and applications. Representatives from Gallo Glass, O-I, Saint-Gobain Containers and Vitro Packaging participated in development of the document. Download the protocol

A Year in the Clear: Introducing the Monthly Clear Choice Awards Wallpaper Calendars

From January through December 2010, GPI will feature a winning product design from the 2009 Clear Choice Awards as a downloadable monthly wallpaper calendar. They will be available at the top of the right hand column in each Inside Glass Packaging.

Download January and February's calendars here. January's calendar features Silver Palm Cabernet Sauvignon by Jackson Family Wines, Overall Package Design winner in the 2009 Clear Choice Awards. The glass bottle was supplied by Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc. February spotlights the Crystal Winner, Alcoholic Beverage Category, Canadian Club 30 Year Aged Whiskey. The glass bottle was supplied by O-I and Pavisa and manufactured by Beam Global Spirits and Wine, Inc. Get more information on this product and the other 2009 Clear Choice Award winners.

LEGISLATION

GPI Submits Comments to EPA on Proposed Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule

On December 28th, GPI submitted comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concerning the agency’s proposed Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule. In the comments, GPI explained the concern for significant “leakage” should the agency determine emissions levels from the facility level. GPI and its member companies have worked diligently with Congress to ensure that any federal emissions regulation would take into account unregulated, international competition so domestic facilities would not be placed at a competitive disadvantage.

GPI also requests that the EPA raise the facility threshold from 25,000 tons per year (tpy) to 100,000 tpy. This change would reduce the major sources in their proposal by almost two-thirds, but only decrease the total quantity of GHG emissions subject to regulation by 4 percent. Finally, GPI asks that the EPA leave emissions regulations to Congress, who has been actively working on cap-and-trade and other climate change proposals for two years, to ensure that all economic and environmental aspects are taken into account. For a copy of GPI’s comments, contact Bryan Vickers at bvickers@pacellp.com.

California Assembly Committee Rejects Effort to Suspend AB 32

California’s Assembly Committee on Natural Resources rejected legislation that would have temporarily suspended the state’s climate change law, more commonly known as AB 32. Assembly Bill 118, which would have suspended AB 32 until the unemployment rate lowered to 5.5%, was voted down by a 6-3 margin. AB 32 would require GHG emissions reductions to 1990 levels by 2020 and is scheduled go into effect in 2012. The law directly affects the state’s glass container manufacturers through mandated emissions reductions at their facilities. A continuing effort to repeal the law is expected by Assemblyman Dan Logue, who hopes to gather enough signatures to place the issue on the ballot when California residents vote later this year.

Delaware Governor Proposes to Dissolve Container Deposit Program, Provide Universal Curbside Recycling

The office of Delaware Governor Jack Markell has proposed a mandate that all private waste haulers and municipalities provide curbside recycling service to all customers. Initial set-up costs would be funded via the state’s current 5-cent container deposit program. While recycling services would need to be provided, businesses and residences would not be required to participant. Over time, the deposit program would transition to a 2-cent fee per recovered container, with all proceeds directed towards state wide recycling efforts.

Governor Markell vetoed legislation at the end of 2009 that would have repealed the state’s container deposit program, H.B. 201, which was opposed by GPI. The Governor’s new proposal would need to be introduced and pass the Delaware General Assembly to become law.

GLASS RECYCLING

University of Kansas Students Bring Glass Bottle Recycling to Local Bars

Ratified in January 2009, “Students for Bar Recycling” took on the challenge of establishing recycling at all the bars in Lawrence, KS, where the University resides, with a focus on glass containers.

The student organization was started by Andrew Stanley and Ben Hornung, University of Kansas seniors. “We were watching a game at a sports bar and asked them what they do with all the empty bottles, and they said they didn’t recycle them,” says Hornung. They checked with other bars and restaurants and found none were recycling. “Lawrence is pretty progressive with respect to the green movement, so we we’re blown away that there wasn’t recycling in place.”

But starting November 2009, thanks to the efforts of the student organization, Ripple Glass began a trial run with a bar in Lawrence called The Barrel House, a piano bar, where they now have drop-off bins for glass containers. “We want to do whatever we can to make it a successful pilot,” says Hornung. That is the focus this semester, along with adding more local bars. Learn how they set up the pilot program

1000 WORDS

A Symphony of Glass Beer Bottles

Watch the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria play the Victoria Bitter beer commercial theme song on bottles of VB, as it’s known in Australia, where it is the highest selling beer. It’s not to be missed.