A shatterproof glass beverage bottle could be available globally by next year.
Developed by environmental chemist Walt Himelstein, the Pure Glass Bottle includes a see-through, non-removable coating in order to prevent it from being shattered.
The glass still manages to break and ends up becoming unusable but won’t shatter into pieces because of the coating. This is far better than methods that require bottles using protective sleeving where glass can still escape.
Himelstein 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,” he added. “We hope to get US manufacturing sometime in the future and we have had recent contact with a few companies and are taking to them about this”.
Regarding the view about the bottle containing food, Himelstein said a crab meat producer approached them but the manufacturing process presented problems that made the process impractical.
However, it was something that could potentially be considered in the future.
The bottle uses the BPA-free coating, which complies with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Code of Federal Register (CFR 21) on the outside.
Himelstein has previously worked with hazardous materials in glass bottles coated with an exterior material and said the coating provides consumers with protection from cuts and injuries when the bottle breaks.
He said: “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”.
The bottle is currently available in the US but Himelstein hopes to have the product being distributed on a worldwide scale by the middle of next year.
Himelstein has been an environmental chemist for 23 years and formed the Pure Glass Bottle in 2011.
