CASE STUDY No. 9613
KEY WORDS MILK CONTAINERS, REFILLABLE GLASS
Stanpac
R.R. 3, Spring Creek Road
Smithville, Ontario
CANADA L0R 2A0
Contact: Murray Bain, Marketing Manager. Tel: 905-957-3326. Fax: 905-957-3616.
Summary
Though they are only a tiny fraction of the milk container market, refillable glass bottles are providing a significant cost advantage to small regional dairies.
Action
Stanpac designs and manufactures closures and application equipment for the dairy, juice, beverage, pharmaceutical, and healthcare packaging industries. For dairies using refillable containers, Stanpac is a major producer of equipment and source of technical information.
Originally a producer of milk bottle caps, Stanpac was forced to diversify and began to manufacture closures for other products when the milk container market shifted from glass refillables to cartons. Glass milk bottles were practically gone--but not forgotten.
In the late 1980s, local dairies that wanted to bottle their own milk began to emerge, creating a very small but measurable increase in the demand for refillable containers. These new-generation dairies wanted a container that would make their product stand out, allow economical distribution, and create a premium product image. At that time there was only one supplier of refillable glass bottles. Recognizing the beginning of a trend, Stanpac purchased molds to produce glass milk bottles and now markets them in 8-, 16.9-, 32-, and 64-ounce sizes plus a 1-liter bottle. Most sizes are closed with a paperboard disk crimped around the mouth.
Payback
In 1996, milk in refillable containers constituted slightly more than 1% of all liquid milk shipments. Volume is increasing at the rate of 15% annually. For producing a new line of refillable milk bottles, Stanpac won the 1995 Environmental Awareness Award of the Glass Packaging Institute
Although there is no unusual economic benefit to Stanpac from producing glass milk bottles, the company's action has enhanced its image and promoted a positive public perception of the container. Stanpac anticipates that as the markt for refillable glass bottles grows, it will have the opportunity to expand production of related products, such as closures and divided cases.
Additional Waste Prevented
The reuse of glass containers saves between 80% and 90% of the energy required to produce virgin glass. By comparison, recycled glass saves between 10% and 15% of the energy required to manufacture new glass. Refillers of glass bottles generally rely on backhauling of empty bottles collected from users during regular route deliveries; thus, no additional vehicle trips are necessary.
Typically, a refillable glass container is reused an average of 25 times. According
to the Recycling Association of Oakland, California, a bottle refilled 25 times will use
95% less glass and 90% less energy than the total process of producing 25 bottles in
closed-loop recycling. This is true even when factoring in the total cost of inspecting,
sterilizing, and refilling reusable glass bottles. A refillable glass container system
also has a higher jobs-to-volume ratio than a recycled glass system.