The History of Glass Packaging

The production of glass dates back to 1600 B.C. and the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia, small bottles were first produced by the Egyptians around 1500 B.C. The materials used by the Egyptians included limestone, soda, sand and silica--these ingredients have altered very little as the centuries have progressed and mass production of glass packaging has overtaken techniques such as glass blowing.

Glass bottle

Early Glass Packaging

After the Egyptians produced small glass bottles, the process of creating glass changed very little until around 250 B.C. when the Babylonians began the process of blowing glass which dramatically reduced the cost of glass production. By reducing the cost, the Babylonians made glass available to everybody within their society.

The Roman Empire

The Roman Empire took the Babylonian's glass blowing technique and exported it around the Empire around the year 100 A.D. The Roman's introduced glass blowing and glass packaging to countries yet to discover the merits of glass, including England and France.

Glass House History

America's first settlers built a glass house in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608 A.D. using similar techniques to those used by the Romans. The glass house produced packaging for pharmacists who displayed medicines in glass bottles.

Split Mold Technique

Glass production was still restricted to glass blowing until 1821 A.D. when the split mold method of production was introduced. The split mold allowed for different shapes of glass to be produced and gave the opportunity for the brand of the product to be imprinted into the packaging along with the maker's name.

Mass Production

Glass packaging remained at the forefront of packaging when, in 1887, the Ashley glass company of Castleford, Yorkshire in the United Kingdom created a semi-automatic production method that produced over 200 bottles per hour.

Michael Owens

American engineer Michael Owens created his automatic bottle blowing machine in 1903, pushing glass packaging into the mechanized age by producing uniform bottles and jars made to specification at a rate of over 2,500 bottles per hour.

Environmental Issues

Glass packaging remained important until the 1970s when plastic became the packaging of choice for items such as soda. Glass packaging production continued to decline until the 1990s when recycling became an issue with environmental groups and the general public. Recycling glass packaging reduces the amount of containers in landfill sites and reduces energy consumption, as it takes less energy to recycle used glass than it does to melt raw materials.

References

• Ohio State University: History of Packaging
• The British Glass Website
• The Glass Packaging Institute