For centuries, glass has served as a universal packaging container, holding precious commodities like wine and olive oil. Today, manufacturers use glass to hold everything from soda and peanut butter to champagne and perfume. Glass manufacturers and consumers continue to appreciate glass for its aesthetic value but also recognize its practicality. The glass in many items, from your soda bottle to your computer, can be recycled over and over while retaining its strength.

• Americans generated 12.5 million tons of glass in the municipal solid waste (MSW) stream in 2003.
• About 22 percent of the 10.9 million tons of glass was recovered for recycling.
• Recovery increased from 750,000 tons in 1980 to more than 2.4 million tons in 2001.
• Soft drink, beer, food, wine, and liquor containers represent the largest source of glass generated and recovered for recycling.

Today, most glass manufacturers rely on a steady supply of recycled crushed glass, known as "cullet," to supplement raw materials. To make glass, manufacturers mix sand, soda ash, limestone, and cullet; heat the mixture to a temperature of 2,600 to 2,800 degrees F; and mold it into the desired shape. Sand is the only material used in greater volumes than cullet to manufacture glass.

Using cullet saves money and helps the environment, because:

• Cullet costs less than raw materials.
• Cullet prolongs furnace life since it melts at a lower temperature.
• Cullet demands less energy from power sources like electricity, natural gas, and coal.
• Less energy used means reduced emissions of nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide, both greenhouse gases.

Lightweighting—reducing the volume of material used to make a specific product—saves a considerable amount of energy and raw materials. Money and resources saved by reducing the volume of glass containers help make glass more cost effective for glass container manufacturers, who face competition from aluminum and plastic container manufacturers. Using advances in design and manufacturing technology, the glass container industry continues to reduce the weight of glass containers. For instance, manufacturers reduced the weight of non-returnable glass containers by about 44 percent from 1972 to 1987, according to a 1992 Franklin Associates study, "Analysis of Trends in Municipal Solid Waste Generation."

The issue with lightweighting is that the glass is more susceptible to damage, that is where the Agent QC can help manufacturers reduce breakage with regular use. Placing the AQC in-line with the actual bottles will help protect your product and your investment.