Industries turn to glass for packaging safety

The issue of safety, especially among food and personal products manufacturers, is coming to the forefront. A recent study of consumers in Europe showed that more than half of respondents were worried about the safety of plastic packaging, especially as it relates to food.

Six out of ten consumers indicated that they were most concerned about plastic food packaging. Nearly half of consumers expressed reservations about the safety of metal food containers, primarily metal beverage cans. In contrast, only 8% of study participants were concerned about contamination from glass containers. Consumers specifically cited food contamination and chemical contamination from leaching as major concerns. More than 8 of 10 consumers think that contamination from packaging could pose a risk to human health.

61% consumers said that they trusted glass as a packaging material. This is up from 48% of consumers who said they trusted glass as a food packaging material in 2010.

The preference of consumers for glass packaging comes at an inconvenient crossroads: fewer efforts are being made to recycle container glass at a time when certain producers are looking to increase the amount of glass packaging to allay consumer concerns about safety.

Glass is inert, which means that it can “contain” virtually anything without interacting with it. That makes it a good choice for packaging from a safety perspective. Glass is also infinitely recyclable; it can be reformed an endless number of times without any significant degradation in quality or safety.

Glass is also attractive from an ecological perspective: when recycled, it reduces the amount of energy required to reform it into a new container. When it is discarded, it does not interact with the environment in a negative way.

New studies show that even organic products can be a source of known endocrine disruptors like bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates because these products pick up chemicals from their plastic packaging. These and other chemicals may also be present in other materials that may come into contact with food – like countertops, for example.

This makes glass a highly desirable surface in the kitchen and bathroom. Additionally, glass is easy to clean and sanitize, and can stand up to most household cleaning agents.

Philly Office Building To Use Photochromic Glass

A new office building planned in Philadelphia will use photochromic glass. The windows will tint automatically to reduce glare and solar heat gain. The building, known as 3.0 University Place, will open in early 2018. The 189,000 square foot building’s windows will have sensors that detect the level of ambient light and tint to reduce glare and heat buildup.

The windows, made by SageGlass, can also tint via remote control, to better suit the preferences of building occupants. Photochromic glass won’t be the building’s only energy-saving trick. The structure will feature solar panels on the roof and a rainwater collection and purification system for water use inside the building. The building will be the third in a planned development of six buildings that all feature energy-conserving, environmentally friendly operational techniques.

The Steward Partnership, the buildings’ developer, is seeking LEED Platinum certification for 3.0 University Place. Platinum LEED certification According to the developer, the building does not yet have an anchor tenant, but several Fortune 500 companies are in talks to occupy the space when it is complete.

Energy conservation is driving building design. Glass plays a major role in reducing energy consumption and energy costs. Whether by using photochromic glass, window treatments, energy efficient windows or glass coatings like Glassprimer™ glass paint, in most cases, light control equals heat control, and heat control equals a reduction in energy consumption.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially formulated to make a permanent bond with glass. Unlike ordinary paints, Glassprimer™ glass paint will not chip, peel or fade, even in direct sunlight or high humidity. Glassprimer™ bonds with the glass surface by modifying it, so the paint performs year after year, even in demanding conditions.

Decorating with Glass

When the task is to decorate a room, most people focus on colors, furnishings, textures and flooring. One important element of decorating is light, and the source of most natural light is the window. Glass is an integral part of a decorating scheme, so it’s important to remember it when making a decorating plan.

Windows have two primary purposes – light and ventilation. In some cases, a window is non-operable, so letting in light is its only gig. Light’s visible components are definitely desirable, but light has invisible components that bring in unwanted (or much wanted) heat.

Light and the accompanying heat raise the temperature of a room. That might be desirable in some settings, and highly undesirable in others. With an operable window, you have the option of ventilating with natural air. With inoperable glass, your only option is to turn up the air conditioning.

Letting in light means letting others have a view of your interior space. In most cases, that’s not what you want, so a decorating plan that includes glass will need to take into account the need for privacy.

You can “privatize” your window glass with a wide range of window treatments – including blinds, shades, drapes and shutters. You can also use frosted or coated glass to limit the ability to see out of the window without completely restricting the light that gets in.

Glassprimer™ glass paint offers a frosted effect paint that enables you to “frost” ordinary glass at a fraction of the cost of true frosted glass. Glassprimer™ glass paint creates a permanent bond with the glass surface, so once the paint has cured, it won’t come off.

These GFRC pieces are nearly 7′ tall.

If you’re always on the lookout for interesting decorative materials, get to know glass fiber reinforced concrete. If the word “concrete” immediately makes you worry about weight, you should definitely read on.

Glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) is used to create façade panels, shaped concrete, countertops and other similar surfaces. GFRC can also be used for smaller, free-standing pieces and decorative molding. It can be used in interior and exterior structural and non-structural applications.

Glass fiber reinforced concrete is made of sand, cement, polymers and glass fibers. It sounds a lot like regular old concrete, except that it doesn’t contain any rock aggregate. This lightens up GFRC substantially. It also makes it more amenable to being shaped, flexed, stretched and compressed without breaking or cracking. Glass fiber reinforced concrete is also strong, which makes it desirable in building and decorating applications.

The secret to GFRC’s strength is the glass fibers. The glass fibers give the mixture its tensile strength under load, while the polymers distribute the load evenly.

GFRC can be made by spraying the concrete mixture into forms while long glass fibers are added. This allows GFRC to be cast in place, and eliminates the need for separate transportation and installation. It also allows the concrete to be shaped in virtually any form.

GFRC can also be made by premixing the glass fibers into the concrete-polymer mix. These fibers are shorter and are not as strong as their “sprayed up” counterparts.

A hybrid method of creating GFRC combines the spray and premixed method. Using this approach, a thin facing coat is sprayed into a mold, then a fiber-reinforced mixture is added to the mold. This approach is usually used to make concrete countertops.

Glass fiber reinforced concrete is about 75 years old. It was first developed in Russia in the 1940s, but didn’t gain much traction until the 1970s. The technique has been tweaked a bit, but it’s gained popularity as the price of cement has risen. GFRC can be created for somewhere between $3 and $4 per square foot.

GFRC can be surface treated in a number of ways, including etching, sand blasting, polishing, dyeing and painting. It can also be pigmented during production. You can use Glassprimer™ glass paint on surfaces like GFRC. Glassprimer™ glass paint makes a permanent bond with surfaces like concrete, and offers exceptional UV resistance.

Flat glass prices finally level out

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index (PPI), the price of flat glass leveled out in July, for the first time in five months. Prices increased just .1% in July and .2% in August, following months of full percentage increases. Overall, the price of flat glass has increased 8% since last year, owing in part to increased demand for glass and relative shortages in raw materials used in the production of glass. In addition, glass intended for new construction must meet higher energy and safety standards.

The construction and automotive industries account for the two largest glass consumers. Overall, demand for glass is expected to exceed $130 billion by 2020. Demand is also increasing for specialty coated glasses and photovoltaic glasses. In construction, these glasses are used to decrease energy consumption by controlling both solar heat gain and seasonal energy losses.

Increasingly, the automotive industry is turning to specialized glass to support new safety features. This increased specialization spurred Safelite, the nation’s largest auto glass manufacturer, to announce that it intends to withdraw from the auto glass manufacturing market by October. The company will still provide auto glass replacement services, but will leave manufacturing to smaller, more agile producers.

An 8% increase in the price of glass over a single year does not seem overly dramatic, but since 2008, the price of flat glass has increased 25%-50%. Flat glass prices have increased virtually every month since 2012. The long-term price increase stems from the fact that during the height of the recession, nearly one-third of the nation’s glass manufacturing plants were taken out of service, and were not replaced. The reduction in the number of producers, combined with the increase in demand, has resulted in longer lead times for production and an increases in the price of the product.

Some consumers are looking overseas for additional product, but transportation issues and lead times often make the cost of importing glass a wash.

One alternative to specialized glass may be glass paint. Glassprimer™ glass paint is specially formulated to bond permanently with glass surfaces, and provides superior UV protection. Glass paint can still permit light transmission while controlling solar heat gain, and is available for about $1 per square foot.