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WRAP: new project for slimmer glass packaging

UK food retailers and brand owners are being invited to take part in a series of trials of lightweight glass containers.
If successful, the project could save 65,000 tonnes of glass and 48,000 tonnes…

UK food retailers and brand owners are being invited to take part in a series of trials of lightweight glass containers. If successful, the project could save 65,000 tonnes of glass and 48,000 tonnes of carbon emissions by 2009, the equivalent of taking 28,000 cars off the road. GlassRite Food, a new project funded by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), will promote the use of innovative lightweight glass containers for food products, soft drinks and flavoured alcoholic beverages (FABs). The project aims to save 20,000 tonnes of glass by its completion in March 2008, and to roll-out the project results to create momentum for a further 45,000 tonnes to be saved in the first year following the project. A range of new container designs will be developed, trialled and launched, in order to take advantage of the commercial and environmental benefits of moving to lightweight containers. Container designs will be put through rigorous trials to test their strength, practicality and consumer appeal. Experts from the University of Wales, Bangor, will conduct detailed consumer perception tests, while hi-tech wireless sensors will be placed inside containers to assess performance during handling, filling and packaging. GlassRite Food will be led by R&D specialists Faraday Packaging Partnership, with support from the trade association British Glass. Several leading glass manufacturers, including Allied Glass Containers, O-I, Rockware Glass, Beatson Clark and Quinn Glass, have already agreed to participate, and the project team is now calling on retailers and brand owners to sign up. Nicola Jenkin from WRAP“s retail innovation team said: “GlassRite Food is a tremendous opportunity for retailers and brand owners to explore and trial the benefits of lightweight glass with a cross-sector of industry experts. “With the food, flavoured alcoholic beverage and soft drink sectors accounting for 34% of the UK“s total container glass use, even a moderate reduction in container weight could deliver significant cost savings, while reducing carbon emissions and glass waste”. GlassRite Food follows the success of previous WRAP-funded glass lightweight trials, which should result in an annual saving of 32,000 tonnes of glass, and helped launch several groundbreaking designs, including a lightweight 300ml Grolsch beer bottle. WRAP“s work has also shown that significant savings can be made by reducing the weight of coffee jars. If all UK coffee jars changed to the “best in class” weight, an additional 15,900 tonnes of glass would be saved each year, saving over GBP 6 million in material and distribution costs, and nearly 12,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. Faraday Packaging Partnership managing director, Dr Walter Lewis, said: “By taking designs from the drawing board to the supermarket shelf, GlassRite Food will provide important new insights into the practical and commercial opportunities for lightweight containers. “Previous trials have shown that lightweight glass packaging can be strong, practical and popular with consumers, while maintaining brand identity. We are confident that these benefits can also be delivered across the food sector”.

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