No Matter what the Colour, Glass is Always Greener

Glass packaging is an expression of one's product and its unique qualities. Take mineral water. It's hard to say what's more natural. The mineral water in the glass or the glass itself? Glass is 100% pure, reusable and recyclable; quite simply, everything that comes out of glass is as pure as when it went in. Only glass can reflect the purity of mineral water; the alignment of product and packaging could not be closer. The sentiment "It's good it's in glass" could not be more true.

There is no doubt that glass, in both its returnable and non-returnable forms has a premium image directly proportional to the edge it has in its intrinsic qualities. Attributes of glass, including its ability to preserve true flavour and shelf life, its clarity, shape, stylishness, the feel of glass containers and the unique ability of glass to keep its contents colder for longer, all contribute to the premium image of the products it packages. As a packaging solution glass also allows consumers to reuse the containers, which gives the glass pack an endless life span and this reusability gives it extra appeal over other packaging. The versatility of this packaging commodity allows products ranging from mineral waters, alcohol, to gourmet foods, baby foods and soft drinks, all to be packaged in glass.

Consol Glass is the largest glass manufacturer in Africa. Through service excellence, quality and product innovation we are able to deliver this world-class glass packaging solution to our blue-chip customers, including South African and international companies that demand first-rate service. It is expected that by 2012 our total glass capacity will grow to in excess of one-million tons per annum. That's over four-billion glass containers. One of the outstanding benefits of the glass making process is that cullet (broken glass) is a part-substitute for raw materials and can be used in varying ratios of up to 70% of recycled content. Investment into glass recycling is not a short-term economic driver, but rather a long-term strategic decision and a key focus area for Consol to ensure both environmental responsibility, as well as future sustainability of the glass making industry. The re-emergence of the glass pack as a brand differentiator in the South African food sector in recent years has lead to steady growth for glass sales in an aggressive and innovative domestic food category. Consol produces various glass products for the food industry with major product lines for baby food, mayonnaise, coffee, sauces, fresh salads, anchovette, various spices, olive oils, chutney and spreads, including jams, honey etc. Our participation in the South African beverage industry is focused around domestic beer, wine and spirit sales and very recently large growth in export wine and domestic Flavoured Alcoholic Beverages. Non-alcoholic beverages in glass have also in recent years seen an increasing trend toward pack differentiation with Consol producing products for the carbonated soft drinks, fruit juice and the mineral water industries.

In our glass tableware division, we produce a small flint range of Hardford and Press produced commodity tumblers for the retail, catering and glass decoration industries. Our speciality glass division, CSG, also produces a budget tableware range for the lower income mass market. Both tableware ranges are increasingly being exported to other African countries.

To meet the new international standards that discourage the use of plastic bottles and imported mineral waters, Consol has embarked on an on-going programme to develop local solutions. This includes encouraging restaurants to use South African manufactured bottles when serving filtered and sanitised municipal water to patrons.

Glass has many lives and its purity promotes good health and green living. So raise a glass to glass; packaging made from nature.