With the introduction of the Safe Cosmetics Act in June 2011, focus has moved to the potential human health and environmental impacts of ingredients in cosmetics and perfumes. Should it become law, the Act gives the Food & Drug Administration greater oversight on the ingredients that go into these products.

In the meantime, many beauty product makers are moving forward to be more transparent about the ingredients they use, especially companies that promote themselves as organic or natural. And many are rediscovering the benefits of glass packaging, which is virtually inert, resulting in little if any migration of chemicals from packaging to product.

“Plastic releases toxic chemicals as it degrades into the environment,” says Ejyo Remington, Co-Founder and Owner of Waxelene, Inc., a sustainability-focused company that produces an all-natural alternative to petroleum jelly. “Glass is made from silica, which is an incredibly abundant and easy to obtain material, as opposed to plastic and other materials, which can require heavy refining and chemical additives to produce.”

Beauty product makers have long had a relationship with glass packaging because glass is so effective at helping communicate messages about style and quality. But more recently, health, sustainability, and social awareness are added considerations that make glass the ideal package. More

Wrap Up Summer with a Celebration of Glass!

Recycle Glass Month is September

The first weekend in September marks the unofficial end of summer with the arrival of the Labor Day Weekend. It’s also kicks off Recycle Glass Month 2011, a celebration of glass and its infinite recyclability.

Recycle Glass Month and glass recycling will be the front-page feature during September on Earth911.com, so check that out. Glass containers can be recycled endlessly back into their original form—a new glass bottle or jar. Other materials can only be “down-cycled” into a different product that will ultimately still end up in a landfill.

Recycle Glass Month events are already in the works. At Nalls Produce in Alexandria, Virginia, the garden center and local food market is tying its Second Annual Nice Neighbor Block Party to Recycle Glass Month, where it will feature a glass recycling education exhibit.

Get ideas for celebrating Recycle Glass Month. Promote Recycle Glass Month with T-shirts, stickers and other items from the Recycle Glass Month online shop. And don’t forget to share your stories on the Recycle Glass Month Facebook page.

PACKAGING TRENDS

O-I Receives IDEA Award for Vortex® Bottle

The Vortex® beer bottle from O-I, internally embossed with intertwining spirals that create a helix-like, three-dimensional effect on the bottle’s neck, is the first glass container in recent history to receive an IDEA (Industrial Design Excellence Award) from the Industrial Designers Society of America, referred to as the “Oscars of Design.”

Miller Coors brought the Vortex bottle to market in spring 2010 in a successful campaign for Miller Lite, and is credited with helping generate a 6 point trend improvement in Miller Lite’s bottle sales. “The Vortex® bottle demonstrates the value glass packaging and innovation can have on brand performance,” says Sean Seitzinger, vice president, marketing, O-I North America. More here and here

Trader’s Point Moves Award-Winning Cottage Cheese to Glass Jars

Traders Point Creamery’s award-winning cottage cheese is now available in recyclable glass containers manufactured by Verallia. Using glass jars preserves the cottage cheese in a nonporous and impermeable container, extending the shelf life of the product compared to plastic containers. The glass jars maintain the cottage cheese’s integrity, meaning none of the leaching that occurs with plastic containers happens in the new glass jar and the shelf life of the cheese is extended. Traders Point Creamery Cottage Cheese in glass containers is available at Whole Foods and in the Traders Point Creamery Store. More

LEGISLATION

EPA Requests Stakeholder Input on MSW Report

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a request for comments on their annual Municipal Solid Waste Report, which contains recycling rates for packaging, including glass containers. Stakeholders are asked to provide information on recycling metrics and protocols used for defining them. The EPA indicated that information received could lead to the creation of a new measurement report. The GPI and its member companies intend to provide comments by the September 30th due date.

Senate Subcommittee Considers Soda Ash Royalty Rate Extension Bill

The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held a hearing to consider S. 1144, which would extend the 2% royalty rate currently paid by soda ash producing companies operating on public lands. GPI Associate Member Company FMC Corporations testified in support of the legislation, and the GPI submitted a letter of support into the record.

As the majority of U.S. soda ash production occurs on public lands in the Green River Basin, passage of this bill is crucial.  Without legislative action, the royalty rate will move to 6% in October. The current 2% rate assists GPI's soda ash industry partners and creates a more level playing field in the global soda ash market, where synthetically produced soda ash in China enjoys favorable rebates on its exports.

The American Natural Soda Ash Corporation estimates that the proposed five-year extension of the current 2% rate would provide soda ash producers certainty and confidence to expand production, while supporting thousands of existing jobs and contributing to $1 billion annually in exports.

GLASS RECYCLING

Vancouver Lodge Gets Glass Recycling Rolling Among Area Bars/Restaurants

The Heathman Lodge, a 192-room hotel in Vancouver, WA near the Columbia River Gorge and Mt. Hood National Forest, is on a sustainability mission, and that includes glass container recycling. For the past two years, glass bottles and jars are recycled at an onsite restaurant, all banquet services, and throughout the public areas.

Four yards of recycled mixed glass is collected for recycling each week. According to Scott Gix, The Heathman Lodge Sustainability Director, the biggest obstacle to glass recycling is that it takes a fair amount of space, but it has proven to make a big dent in diversion from the trash bin. In addition to glass, The Heathman Lodge recycles mixed paper, food composting, clean plastics, Compact Florescent bulbs, and batteries.

“We were actually the first business in Clark County to start a pilot program for businesses to recycle glass,” says Gix. The initial motivation was to reduce trash fees and expand overall hotel recycling, but in the beginning the lodge wasn’t able to find a local recycler to pick up the glass bottles, “so for the first few months of the program, we drove the glass bottles to a local recycling transfer station,” says Gix. More

ISRI Study Shows Recycling Industry Supports Over 450,000 Jobs and Generates $10.3 Billion in Revenue

A new economic analysis, commissioned by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) and undertaken by John Dunham and Associates, shows that the U.S. scrap recycling industry is a major economic engine powerful enough to create 459,131 jobs and generate $10.3 billion in tax revenues for governments across the country, all while making the old new again and helping to protect the earth’s air, water and land for future generations. Scrap materials include products from plastics, tires, fabrics, furs, paper, glass, ferrous, non-ferrous and precious metals.

“This study illustrates very clearly that the U.S. scrap recycling industry is playing an important role in America’s economic recovery,” said ISRI President Robin Wiener. “All this adds up to recognition that the scrap recycling industry must be allowed to grow so it can continue to boost our economy, put people to work protect our environment and help save energy. When people think of recycling, they think of the bin at the curb when in fact our industry is a multi-billion-dollar ‘Made in America’ manufacturing success story.” More

Ripple Glass Recycling Expands to New Cities and States

Ripple Glass, Kansas City, MO is expanding to collect recycled glass in a dozen cities in five states, including Lincoln, NE; Eureka Springs, Ark.; Iowa City and Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Topeka, Fort Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Fort Riley, Kansas.

Less than two years after its launch, these communities have begun shipping their recycled glass bottles and jars to Ripple Glass in Kansas City. “We’re still alive and that’s exciting for us,” said Jeff Krum, an executive at Boulevard Brewing Co. and a co-founder of Ripple Glass. “It’s all about volume. The demand for cullet is close to limitless.”

Ripple Glass currently has 80 drop-off collection bins around the Kansas City area and has expanded to about 70 bars and restaurants in the center of the city. And that program is spreading as well. “Our hope is to do the entire metro within 12 months,” says Krum. Deffenbaugh Industries hauls the collection bins to Ripple Glass for processing. More

1000 WORDS

Cèline Cousteau Knows Glass Loves the Sea

In this Glass is Life video, Cèline Cousteau, environmentalist and granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau, shares why glass loves the sea—and she loves the sea. Glass is pure, beautiful, and 100% recyclable. Watch now