OI Glass University

Last week I attended the three day Glass University given by OI in Perrysburg, Ohio. This class is given four times a year. If you are at all involved with the purchasing of or creation of glass packaging, I highly recommend this class. 

 The first two days are all classroom, and the third day are spent visiting their glass plant in Charlotte, MI.

I learned that glass in this country, is grossly under-recycled and according to OI, for every 10% of recycled glass that makes it back into the furnace, energy use drops 2-3%. This is important because the furnaces run at about 2800° 24 hours a day, seven days a week!

During the glass they reviewed new Product development, Sustainability issues, Raw Materials & Furnace Operations, the Forming Process, Surface treatments, strength, inspection and Handling requirements. Alot of materials for three days. 

Glass does certainly have weight, breakage and other issues, but the purity of glass and its unique ability to protect the product and not impart any flavors into the product can not be ignored. Also - Glass is still #1 in premium perception with consumers. I see glass coming back in a big way and the folks in Charlotte are very proud of their newly designed glass baby bottle in that will be hitting the market soon.

The only thing I would have liked is more time at the factory. They took us to the furnaces, allowed us to look inside (through a welding mask), then the glass forming machines and right down the line right to the end where they ship product. Here is a video from the Discovery Channel showing a quick overview of the glass making process. (Not sure if it is an OI location)

If you have any interest in attending the OI Glass school contact Karen.Harwood@us.o-i.com

More Sustainability Ideas from the East Pack NYC show

I just got back from the East Pack show in NY, the show is very big, but is more like six shows combined, Medical Design & Manufacturing, East Pack, Atlantic Design & Manufacturing, Automation Technology Expo, PlastTec East and the Green Manufacturing Expo.

More and more companies are offering sustainability solutions; to compete in the marketplace, companies everywhere are going to have to assess their role moving forward or be left behind. Companies that offer real solutions and not just window-dressing will survive.

Sustainability starts with design and D2M has a system they use to choose the right materials for product development and mechanical engineering. They are geared more towards the electronic and medical markets.

Akeena Solar has residential and commercial solar panel solutions. Solar technology has advanced since the days of President Carter. They will do an audit and again, checking off "yes" in the solar box if you are doing business with the big box stores will get you on the top of their vendor list.

Lime Energy located in South Gate, California offer tools that will meet your sustainability goals by monitoring your facilities HVAC and lighting systems. 

Morrison Container Handling Solutions can come in and audit your filling line and make changes that will reduce the energy used for production of your product.

Tech Container Corp located in MA makes custom engineered reusable plastic storage boxes and claims that by using these boxes as part of your business plan, helps to drive down "pollutants, solid waste and green house gases by 70%". They will audit your corrugate usage and come up with reusable box/tray solutions. The boxes can also come with RFID tags so you can track your inventory. The boxes themselves use no glue to assemble and are 100% recyclable.

UFP's Molded Fiber division is the leading manufacturer of interior packaging solutions made from 100% recycled paper. They can design and engineer a solution for your product. I happen to like this material as a substitute for styrofoam. 

Occasionally, I get boxes filled with this product and I love it. Milex makes a super all natural, biodegradable 100% grain protein based loose-fill Styrofoam substitute. There are no petrochemicals or corn used in the manufacturing process so they expect the price to remain constant. They can even lease you the equipment to manufacture their product in your facility saving trucking costs.

Another company to watch is Orbis Corporation that makes plastic pallets, totes and containers. According to their literature, you will save 7000 gallons of water if you eliminate 800 corrugate boxes. Almost enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool. They also have a handy website with a "Green Calculator" that allows you to do quick calculations on your paper and pallet usage to calculate savings. 

The Gem Gravure company makes printers and ink-jet and gravure inks that eliminate VOC's

Here is something really unique: Green Club Inc. makes a product called Addiflex. When added to polyolefin, the additive renders the plastic biodegradable. If this interests you, check out their site. 

I would like to add again that these are my own observations and I have no interest in the above companies or am being paid for my comments!!

Wal-Mart encourages sustainability packaging

Walmart recently announced that they want their vendors to think differently about how they package their products and are investing $500 million to encourage the change. They have come up with a Packaging Scorecard for their vendors to take to "rate Suppliers". This move will most likely cost consumer goods companies millions as they re-tool their factories to comply. Can sustainability initiatives like these work, or will they encourage companies to Greenwash their products? Next week I will take the free seminar and report back. Stay tuned. . .