Just like Sunday football, beer in glass is an American tradition. People prefer the taste, look, and feel of beer in glass. And, beer drinkers can’t deny the unparalleled environmental benefits of glass container recycling.

Good Packaging Should Not Have an Unnatural Lining

Food and beverage cans are generally coated with plastics to improve taste performance. Research shows alcohol and the composition of particular beverages may influence phthalate migration from plastic containers.2 The aluminum beverage can lining is usually composed of a potentially toxic chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), which has a clear potential to interact with the beer inside, and potentially impact consumers’ health. Even if replaced with another plastic lining compound, the result will still be a synthetic, chemical material in contact with the product within. According to research, ortho- phenylphenol, another endocrine-disrupting chemical, is also used in beer cans.3

Good Packaging Should be Sourced and Recycled Locally

Fact: Consumers think plastic bottles (82%) and aluminum or metal cans (54%) are more likely to leach or seep chemicals than glass bottles or jars (7%).1

Materials used for glass production in the U.S. are sourced in the U.S. Glass bottles are made from only natural, locally abundant and sourced sand, soda ash, limestone, and “cullet” or recycled glass. Bauxite, the main ingredient of aluminum, is mainly sourced outside of the U.S., thus requiring additional transportation and carbon footprint costs at the beginning of manufacturing.

Glass beverage containers are also recycled in the U.S. in a closed-loop or bottle-to-bottle system, whereas plastic containers are typically “downcycled.” Glass bottles are endlessly recyclable and can go from recycling bin to the store shelf in as little as 30 days. Recycling glass reduces consumption of raw materials, reduces CO emissions, and saves energy. Cans are typically recycled into lower value uses, and all plastic containers will eventually end up incinerated or in landfills and in our oceans.

Good Packaging Should Withstand the Test of Time

In 1600 B.C., glass vases, the very first man-made glass vessels, were created in Mesopotamia. Because it’s 100 percent pure and inert, glass is the only packaging material that fully preserves the original taste of food and beverages. Unlike plastic and cans, glass does not need any plastic layers or other hidden additives to preserve the taste of beer, avoid corrosion, or decrease gas permeability. Glass packaging says a lot to customers: Pure, Recyclable, and Sustainable.

Using Recycled Glass in the Manufacture Process Offsets Transportation Energy

Transportation actually accounts for less than 10 percent of the total energy used in getting glass bottles from the manufacturing facility to the consumer and back to make a new bottle. And, the energy saved from using recycled glass or “cullet” in the manufacturing process actually offsets the energy used to transport glass containers across the country.

The glass container industry set an ambitious goal to use 50 percent recycled content in the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars by the end of 2013, which will make glass bottles even more sustainable. Doubling the U.S. glass container recycling rate (28 percent in 2008) would allow manufacturers to use 50 percent recycled glass 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.

For more information, visit gpi.org

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