Glass bottles are simply bottles made out of glass and are widely used for storing food, soda, liquor, cosmetics, and preservatives. These are made from naturally occurring ingredients. And they are 100 % recyclable which makes them fit to compete against plastic bottles. It can be recycled numerous times without losing its purity or quality.
Glass is inert and impermeable making it perfect for packaging food items. There is almost zero risk of food contamination and no added barriers are required. Hence, when you buy a glass bottle it is 100% glass.
Glass has been proven the safest packaging for health, taste, and the environment. 80% of the glass that is recovered is made into new glass products, again proving its reusability factor.
Slowly people are realizing the impact of using plastic and thus glass has been in the limelight for the manufacturers. Over time there are different forms of glass bottles as well to improve the quality and integrity for our consumers. Glass bottles are made by heating sand, soda ash, limestone, and scrap glass at a temperature of 1675 degrees Fahrenheit.
Types Of Bottle Glass
Most glass bottles are either of the following types of glass bottles:-
- soda-lime glass,
- treated soda-lime glass, or
- borosilicate glass.
These are for the regular category of glass bottles but there is a different type for decorative glasses. The decorative glass bottles are usually made of leaded or crystal glass. Lead oxide content is about 24% in lead glass, while lead-free crystal uses zinc oxide, barium oxide, or potassium oxide.
Let us discuss them briefly below-
Soda-Lime or Soda-Lime-Silica Glass Bottles
The most common type of glass bottle is under this category. These bottles are widely used as containers for food, pharmaceuticals, and beverages. They are relatively cheap and their chemical and water stability has been widely accepted.
Sensitive contents like beer or medication have to be tinted to protect them from UV light which is satisfied by amber glass bottles. They are made up of a mixture of alkali metal oxides and silica glass. But these work best when they undergo dry heat sterilization. Under normal sterilization, the high steam will corrode the glass bottles.
Treated Soda-Lime Glass Bottles
These types of glass bottles are treated with sulfur during the annealing process and are made of the same material as soda-lime. But they are less alkali-soluble and more resistant to water. These glass bottles are strengthened against breakage and friction by treating the outer surface. These are mostly used in injectable medications or storing neutral or acidic products.
Borosilicate Glass Bottles
These glass bottles are ten times the strength of soda-lime glass and more durable as well. These types are often used as chemical lab equipment, with superior water and temperature resistance. Their composition includes a large amount of boric acid, aluminum oxide, alkali, or alkali earth oxide.
Due to this, they are widely used to store chemicals, products that require sterilization, unbuffered products, water, and medication meant for injection. Even with this number of uses and resistance against acidic, alkaline, and neutral materials, it’s still vulnerable to high or low pH products.
Food Packer’s Glass Bottles
Though there is always a fear of breaking glass bottles containing food items, there are numerous benefits in terms of food and safety. But their non-porous and impermeable nature means they won’t degrade over time as plastic does.
Since there is almost zero chance of outside moisture to enter, reducing the risk of mold. The flavor, aroma, and richness of the food items also stay intact for a longer period. Their chemically inert nature assures the safety of the consumers and reduces the risk of ingesting harmful chemicals like BPA.
Pre-Cleaned, EPA Level One Glass Bottles
These glass bottles are the standards for contaminant-free bottles. They are widely used for lab work, sampling, testing, and validation. Here pre-cleaning is prioritized since newly manufactured bottles cannot be 100 % safe.
Pre-cleaned glass bottles are supplied with caps and are certified by a third party before delivery. “Pre-cleaning” is just an umbrella term that refers to cleaning for contaminants, cleaning for particulate contamination, sterilization, or cleaning for visible particles.
Plastic-Coated Glass Bottles
For protection from mechanical impact (dropped glass) and helping reduce leakage of the bottles’ content-wise plastic-coated glass bottles. This is good for handling volatile substances since the plastic coating will help in containing the substance long enough even after the glass breaks. This ensures safe disposal.
Having a plastic coating in the exterior and glass in the interior will provide our consumers the chemical resistance and safety altogether like a two-in-one thing. But these bottles are less temperature resistant than glass-only bottles. Hence it is important to not keep or use them at a temperature more than 302 degrees Fahrenheit or over direct heat or flame.
Toiletry and Cosmetic Glass Bottles
These glass bottles offer the same protection as food packers. Because of their chemical ineptness, products do not harm the consumer’s skin on application. They assure us that the products are free of chemicals leached from packaging.
The glass helps in maintaining freshness as well as preventing them from deterioration over a period. This also adds to the fact that glass is an adequate alternative to plastic. It also reduces the amount of waste formation.
Perfume Glass Bottles
Perfume glass bottles have been playing an important role since 1000 BC, especially for women. And glass bottles have been in use since that period. The main purpose is to contain the fragrance, to keep it intact for a longer period.
And also keep in mind that the scent does not falter with time through exposure to the total atmosphere or the chemical interaction with its packaging. Since glass bottles have been flourishing in the market they are more appealing to the eyes of the consumer for their looks and feel. Thus they are an important part of the consumer’s purchasing decisions.
Conclusion
With all these variances in the availability of different types of Glass Bottles, it becomes easier for the DIY sector to emerge innovations using Glass Bottles. The intricacies with which the Cutting Glass Bottles with a Dremel are highly appreciated.
With rapid development in this sector, we might get to discover a wider scope in the upcoming future. Create your own design of Glass Bottle and send us to roetell.com
