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January 16, 2013

News for the glass packaging industry

Industry News

Ardagh purchases Verallia packaging unit for $1.7B
Luxembourg-based glass packager Ardagh will purchase the U.S. business of French company Saint-Gobain's Verallia glass packaging unit for $1.7 billion. The purchase will expand Ardagh's operations to 26 countries with 113 facilities and about 22,000 employees, and will allow the company to pursue new U.S. wine industry clients. Saint-Gobain said the sale will allow the company to focus more on auto and construction glass, building products and high-performance materials including refractories. Bloomberg (1/14)

Gluten-free beverages gain traction
Interest in gluten-free beverages is growing, with Mintel reporting 148 launches between December 2011 and December 2012 and a Packaged Facts survey in August 2012 finding 18% of consumers buy gluten-free products, up from 15% in 2010. Gluten-free beverage launches include iced tea, beer, juices and soft drinks. BevIndustry.com (1/15)

Recycling & Sustainability

Maryland mulls bottle bill
County and city recycling managers in Maryland said a plan to add a 5-cent bottle deposit would complicate and possibly undermine recycling efforts in the state. The bill, still being drafted, would give nickel refunds for glass, aluminum and plastic beverage containers, and jurisdictions would get the nickel if the containers are put in recycling containers. GPI and other industrial groups have voiced their support for the bill. The Washington Post (1/14) , The Gazette (Gaithersburg, Md.) (1/14) , American City Business Journals/Baltimore (1/14)

Minnesota Legislature to take on recycling
The Minnesota Legislature will most likely tackle the state's declining recycling rate during its new session. Proposals that could be up for consideration include a container deposit bill and a plan that would require extended producer responsibility. Minnesota was formerly a leader in recycling, but its recycling rate topped out at 41% in 2008. Minnesota Public Radio (1/7)

Health & Wellness

Study: BPA could harm children's hearts, kidneys
A new study published in Kidney International suggests that kidney and heart disease should be added to the risks to children associated with overexposure to bisphenol-A. Researchers at New York University found a correlation between high levels of BPA in the urine of children and adolescents and high levels of the protein albumin, which builds up when kidneys are damaged. Time.com (1/9)

Maine moms take to the State House for stricter BPA ban
A group of mothers led by the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine dropped off jars of baby food that contain bisphenol-A at the State House last week. The group staged the demonstration to urge Gov. Paul LePage to take the state's rules on BPA further and ban the chemical from being used in food packaging for infants, babies and toddlers. Morning Sentinel (Waterville, Maine) (1/9)

GPI News

GPI commends Md. lawmakers on intro of recycling legislation
GPI congratulates Maryland Delegate Maggie McIntosh and state Sen. Brian E. Frosh for their sponsorship of Maryland’s Recycle For Real legislation. In addition to GPI's glass container manufacturing member companies, which supply containers to the U.S. food and beverage industries, GPI also represents glass container recycling companies, a key supply group.

GPI 2013 meeting dates
GPI will hold the Spring Meeting and Congressional Fly-In April 16-18, in Washington, D.C. Registration for the Spring Meeting will be available in the next several weeks. The Annual Meeting will be Nov. 3-5 in Sonoma, Calif., at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn.

SmartQuote

Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat."

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
American poet and educator

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