Glass Bottles Make a Comeback

by Angela Nazworth | June 21, 2012 2:40 pm

[1]There’s nothing quite like the ebb and flow in the realm of consumer product popularity.

Case in point No. 1: The fragility of glass led to the rise of plastic bottles and containers a few decades ago.

Case in point No. 2: Concerns about chemicals in plastic containers seeping into the contents the products holds, is leading to a glass comeback.

An increased demand for glass bottles that are also convenient, led in part to the development of a shatter-resistant glass bottle created by Walt Himelstein, The New York Times[2] reported. Himelstein, a scientist with an entrepreneurial spirit, invented the Pure bottle — a reusable glass bottle that is difficult to break and impossible to shatter.

Currently, there are not many companies using Himelstein’s innovative technology, but that could change.

Lynn Bragg, president of the Glass Packaging Institute, told the Times that more consumers are seeking products that are packaged in material that will not leach chemicals. “They’re also looking for sustainable products to be ecologically responsible,” Bragg said.

Vincent Cobb, the founder of reuseit.com[3], a company that sells numerous reusable products, concurs with Bragg.

“I’d say glass bottles account for 20-30% of water bottle sales on our site now,” Cobb told the Times.

Some corporate giants like Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO[4]) and S.C. Johnson are expanding the distribution of glass products. S. C. Johnson now sells reusable VersaGlass within its Ziploc brand. The containers are microwaveable and are safe in a freezer and 400 degree oven. Coca-Cola offers several varieties of its fizzy beverages — Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Sprite —  in eight-ounce glass bottles.

“It’s part of our overall effort to increase packaging diversity so that people have more choices of packaging and portion size,” Coca-Cola spokesperson Susan Stribling told the Times.

Himelstein has recently partnered with CEO of Precidio Design, Marc Heinke to expand Pure bottle sales. The Canadian company makes melamine tableware.

You can read the entire Times article entitled, Wary of Plastic, and Waste, Some Consumers Turn to Glass[5], to learn more information about comeback of glass.

Endnotes:

  1. [Image]: https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Coca_cola_Bottle.png
  2. The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/business/more-consumers-choosing-reusable-glass-bottles.html?_r=1
  3. reuseit.com: http://www.reuseit.com/
  4. KO: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=KO
  5. Wary of Plastic, and Waste, Some Consumers Turn to Glass: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/business/more-consumers-choosing-reusable-glass-bottles.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/06/glass-bottles-make-a-comeback/