A shatterproof glass beverage bottle could be available worldwide by the middle of next year, its developer has told.
The Pure Glass Bottle (pictured) was developed by environmental chemist Walt Himelstein and utilises a see-through, non-removeable coating on the bottle to stop the glass shattering.
The glass still breaks and becomes unusable but won’t shatter into pieces as it will be kept in place by the coating, unlike current methods where bottles use protective sleeving but glass can still escape.
The bottle is available now in the US but with the help of Marc Heinke, president and chief executive officer of Canadian company, Precidio Design, Himelstein hopes to have worldwide distribution by the middle of 2013.
Himelstein is an environmental chemist with over 23 years’ experience in the industry and formed Pure Glass Bottle in 2011 after two years of planning.
US manufacturing hope
He said: “There is a big push in the US for manufacturing products here and it is a big thing, but we tried to make it in the US but with such a small quantity of around 10,000 it was tough and I found out there were only 12-15 glass manufacturers left.
“I approached them all, and they were all very nice, but they said we are making 18 million bottles this month and 13 million ketchup bottles the month after. We can’t shut down production to make 10,000 bottles for you to try your product, it was not economically feasible for them.
“China was the easiest way to go and we are currently doing 12 to 15 thousand bottles per production run, before having them shipped over and then coated here.
“We hope to get US manufacturing sometime in the future and we have had recent contact with a few companies and are talking to them about this.”
When asked if the bottle could contain food, he added there had been an approach from a producer of crab meat but the manufacturing process presented problems that made the process impractical.
He added it was something they would consider in the future.
The bottle uses the BPA-free coating, which has compliance with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Code of Federal Register (CFR 21), on the outside.
Protects consumers
Himelstein previously worked with hazardous materials delivered in glass bottles with a material coated on the exterior and said the coating protects consumers from being cut when a bottle breaks.
“You can’t throw the bottle around, it is still glass, but it stays adhered to the coating so it doesn’t shatter in pieces.
“With a regular bottle, you drop it and you have shards of glass everywhere and depending on what is in the bottle, possibly sticky liquid everywhere.
“This bottle means wherever you are, in the park or outside anywhere, if the bottle breaks it can be disposed of easily and there is no massive clear-up needed.”
