Anadolu Cam, the glass packaging division of the Turkish Şişecam Group, held a poster design competition in the beginning of 2013. The concept of the competition was “Glass Bottles and a Sustainable Future”, participation was open to third and fourth year Graphic Design students from across Turkey. In total 226 entries were received from 17 universities.
The students were asked to convey and raise awareness that glass packaging is the only packaging material that remains healthy while never losing its quality and is 100% recyclable. Also, the students were prompted to design posters that should remind people that if small daily responsibilities are carried out to enhance sustainability, the future will be healthier.
A jury of Turkey’s leading graphic designers judged the posters. The winners were announced on the 26th April with an award ceremony at one of Istanbul’s famous museums, the Rahmi M.Koç Museum. Aside from the winners, a total of 50 posters were on display until the 13th May at the museum.
And now it’s up to you… We wonder, as a true Friend of Glass, which poster do you like most? The official result of the competition can be found at the bottom of this article
First poster: Sefa Pala – Third Place Second poster: Gözde Öztürk- First Place Thirs poster: Emine Yıldırım – Second Place
In English we have a saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It means that if you are doing something right, everyone will try to copy you.
So it is with glass. Around the world, packaging manufacturers are desperately trying to imitate glass. Some even say their products ‘look like glass’ in an effort to capitalise on the positive image glass packaging has with consumers. Others claim their packaging is revolutionary because it is reclosable. They’ve never heard of a glass jar with a lid obviously.
Many producers promote the fact that their packaging is lighter than glass to make extraordinary claims about its environmental performance. But Lucy Siegle highlights in a recent article for The Observer that lighter doesn’t always mean better, ‘PET plastic jars produce five times more greenhouse gas emissions than glass.’ They also use twice as much non-renewable material such as minerals and fossil fuels, and 17 times the amount of water.
Competing materials to glass also ignore the fact that most glass packaging in Europe is produced from recycled glass. All glass can be recycled. Across the continent, glass recycling rates average 71% with rates above 90% achieved in some countries. That saves around 7 million tonnes of CO2 each year – equivalent to taking 4 million cars off the road. Recycling just one bottle saves enough energy to power your television for 20 minutes.
By contrast, many packaging materials cannot be recycled at all. Instead they are burnt in incinerators. A 2011 report by Chloé Hecketsweiler found that just 20% of plastic containers sold in France find their way to recycling centres. Of the rest, many find their way into the world’s oceans and waterways where they have a devastating effect on fish, and on the birds and animals which rely on marine life for food.
Another area where glass packaging outperforms all other materials is health. Glass is made from three natural ingredients which are found abundantly in nature: sand; soda ash; and limestone. By contrast, other packaging materials contain oils and chemicals which can affect the contents of the packaging.
We’re flattered packaging manufacturers want to imitate us, but ultimately nothing can replace natural glass. After all, it’s good for the economy, good to the environment, and good for you!
With summer coming up it’s time to get ready to party and Heineken has a surprise in store for beer drinkers – glass beer bottles that light-up! Launched during Milan Design Week, the Heineken Ignite bottles have eight LED lights and a bunch of other technical wizardry attached to the bottom of the glass bottle.
All of the electronic components are contained in a 3D-printed housing about the size of a €2 coin. A wireless network transceiver with antenna and a microprocessor enable the glass bottles to flash in response to a data signal or the beat of the music in a nightclub or at a party. The glass bottle can detect various actions including cheering, drinking or sitting on the bar.
Only 200 of the glass Heineken Ignite bottles were released during Milan Design Week. The company says it has no plans to make them available commercially but consumer demand might just change their minds! If you’d like to be drinking from a high-tech glass bottle this year, why not let us know through the Friends of Glass Facebook page or tweet us @GlassFriendsEUR. We’ll pass on your requests to Heineken!
Picture: Some of the bottles that will be turned into a work of art at the Bottled Wishes exhibition in London this month
Friends of Glass invited 50 of the UK’s leading voices on building a more sustainable way of living to share their hopes for the future. Amongst the fantastic responses we received were contributions from sustainability advocates and TV presenters Lucy Siegle and Julia Bradbury. We also heard from campaigners on food waste, climate change and green energy including FoodCycle, WRAP, Slow Food, Greenpeace, 350.org, Ecotricity and Good Energy.
These contributions are now being turned into an art installation that features fused recycled glass bottles, each one containing a different wish for the future. The installation is due to be unveiled as the centre piece of our Bottled Wishes exhibition in London this Wednesday 24th April 2013.
Friends of Glass intends that the exhibition will highlight the 100% recyclable qualities of glass while promoting ideas for more sustainable solutions in all areas of life.
Rebecca Cocking, Head of Container Affairs at British Glass, the organisation behind this Friends of Glass campaign, said: “Glass is a healthy and sustainable material that has and will continue to stand the test of time. We wanted to create a window into what other things we would like to see as part of a more sustainable future and thus the Bottled Wishes concept was born.
“While many of the wishes are aspirational and ambitious, the key to success is to start with a clear goal. We hope in exhibiting the wishes, we will help inspire the action required to turn them into reality.”
The exhibition will run for one month at environmental charity Global Action Plan’s offices in Covent Garden, London. At the end of the exhibition the bottles will be auctioned with 100% of proceeds donated to clean water charity drop4drop.
You can also share your own wishes for the future on Twitter using the #bottledwishes hashtag. All wishes will be entered into a competition to win dinner for two at Galvin at Windows, with five pairs of viewing tickets for the spectacular new all-glass building The Shard for the lucky runners up. So tell us, what is your wish for the future?
Here at the Friends of Glass we are excited to welcome a new partner – i91422®. Sounds a strange name but look at the creative way they have used their name to ‘make’ iGlass!
The company chose glass for its water bottles because of its natural and recyclable properties.
i91422® specialises in the production of healthy, fashionable and informed-by-nature water tools, designed to provide modern individuals with direct and simple access to quality informed drinking water.
Do you want to join the Friends of Glass network too? Feel free to get in touch! Leave a comment or contact us through e-mail.
With a population of over 7 million and a land area of just 1,100 square kilometres, Hong Kong is the second most densely populated area in the world. Almost 7,000 people live in each square kilometre (km2) of land. That compares to 400/km2 in Europe’s most densely populated country – the Netherlands.
With so little land available, recycling plays an important part in dealing with Hong Kong’s daily output of waste. More than 150 tonnes of glass bottles enter the waste stream every single day.
To help establish a circular economy for waste glass, the Hong Kong government has proposed a mandatory producer responsibility scheme (PRS). The PRS will ensure all stakeholders in the glass supply chain share responsibility for recycling waste glass.
To promote the scheme, Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has organised a roving exhibition on glass recycling using the slogan ‘Let’s Join Hands to Turn Waste into a Resource’. Aimed at the general public, the exhibition includes examples of art glass, game booths and videos. There is also a glass recycling counter where people can hand-in rinsed glass bottles in return for a souvenir.
If you are in Hong Kong and you would like to visit the exhibition, check-out the exhibition schedule on the EPD website.
Recycling glass is cool, recycling glass is hot (literally, you need quite a few degrees to recycle glass), but above all: recycling glass is necessary. For you, for me, for our planet.
FEVE has been collecting data about glass recycling over the past few years. And as it turns out, Europe is doing pretty well on this subject. That’s why we’ve made a nice and clear infographic so you can see it with your own eyes. Because we hope you’re part of that 80% of European consumers who regularly recycle their glass bottles… And if you’re not, what are you waiting for?
PS: Make sure you check out the other nice stuff we have to offer you in our Friends of Glass Recycling Week, on Facebook or on Twitter.
We are delighted to welcome „Bracia Urbanek” to the Friends of Glass Family!
Bracia Urbanek is a Polish producer of fruits and vegetables preserves. This family company was established in 1984 by brothers Jacek and Andrzej Urbanek. Ever since the early beginning they have been using mainly glass packaging for most of their products. Up until today, despite the time and changing market trends, most of Urbanek’s assortment, which is directed to both retailers and HoReCa sector, is packed in glass jars.
Barbara Grzywacz, sales and marketing director for Urbanek company, explains us what her company believes in:
We are aware that glass is chemically neutral, does not interact with the product inside and allows to enjoy a full range of nutrition.Glass packaging is part of a healthy lifestyle, glass jars preserve the taste and vitamins, protect the product from the outside and are 100% recyclable. Thanks to glass packaging and the production method our customers receive the highest quality of natural products without any chemical preservatives and artificial coloring.
As part of their 2020 global outlook study, Swedish firm Innventia has surveyed consumers in India, Sweden and the US on their attitudes to packaging. Conducted in October 2012, the survey aimed to better understand what influences consumer behaviour when they are choosing packaged food.
When asked whether they avoid certain types of packaging materials, 71% of consumers in India named plastic while 22% said they avoided Styrofoam. In Sweden most consumers avoid aluminium and plastic (both 24%) and Styrofoam (23%). An average of 6% in each country said they avoided glass packaging – one of the lowest figures and similar to other natural materials such as paper/cardboard (4%) and wood (5%).
Asked if they felt bad about throwing away a plastic bottle they have just used, 89% of those surveyed in India said they agreed with this statement. In the US 73% of consumers agreed while in Sweden the figure was 63%.
As part of the survey consumers had to name the packaging material they thought was the least environmentally friendly. Swedish consumers overwhelmingly selected plastic (65%). In India the figure for plastic was also the highest with 61% selecting the material. In the US Styrofoam (57%) was seen as the least environmentally friendly with plastic (48%) in second place. Glass and steel were seen to be the greenest packaging materials with an average of just 13% of consumers in all three countries avoiding them.
The survey also asked consumers whether they worry that we consume too much packaging as a society. In India, 79% of those surveyed said that it concerned them to a very or rather large extent. Consumers in Sweden (63%) and the US (54%) agreed with this sentiment.
Innventia also surveyed consumer interest in improvements to food packaging. Most expressed a desire for packaging that could provide information on where the food came from, how far it had travelled and what it contains. In India 69% were very or rather interested in this concept. Consumers in Sweden (63%) and the US (55%) were also in favour.
For more information on the survey, please visit the Innventia website.
Assovetro, the Italian association of industrial glass producers recently held an event to promote its vision of the link between glass packaging and a green economy. Held at Eately, the temple of Italian food in Rome, the event included a roundtable discussion and a special dinner prepared by the Eataly chefs.
Assovetro launched a package of sustainability proposals including standardisation of glass recycling at the national level. Their proposal includes colour-sorted collection points; a clear, simple and effective regulatory framework; better administration; and simplified procedures.
“Glass recycling is the best example of sustainable economy,” explained Giuseppe Pastorino, President of the Glass Containers Producers section of Assovetro. “That is because glass is 100% reusable and maintains its original quality.”
The use of recycled glass to create new glass packaging has many benefits for the environment. It is also economically efficient – from 100 kilograms of scrap glass you can obtain the same amount of new glass. By contrast, using raw materials requires 120 kilograms of material to obtain 100 kg of new product. Less energy is used as the melting temperature of the scrap is lower than that required to melt raw materials. That results in less greenhouse gas emissions from energy savings.
In Italy, around 70% of glass is recovered and recycled. However, Assovetro would like to reach the 90-95% recycling rates achieved in other European countries such as Belgium.
