Due to the rampant & unchecked reuse of glass containers in the pharmaceutical drugs & food products industries in India , AIGMF has decided to implement their traceability initiative from July 2009 across the country. Glass reuse results in a huge loss of Revenue to the Govt. and many prevailing health hazards which can have far reaching implications on the health of the consumers. A large part of consumers of these products is the common man who is unable to exercise control on the quality of product resulting in a possible health hazard and even loss of precious life!
The Soft Drink and Beer Industries have an elaborate, scientific and mechanised system for washing the bottles to completely sanitize the bottles. But the second hand bottles used for food, pharmaceutical, I.V. Fluids and injectables are washed by intermediaries & is very unhygienic and done in a highly polluted environment; these bottles are never free from bacterial formations and other. Mr. Manohar Lal, Secretary AIGMF says “Medical Fraternity in India has also examined this practice and has criticized it for the same reasons. Food & Pharma manufacturers feel tempted to re-use old glass bottles because it gives them a marginal savings, since old bottles are cheaper than new bottles. The trade of old glass bottles does not have to pay Excise Duty, Service Tax etc., because of which these are cheaper. However manufacturers do not pass on this advantage to the consumers, they do their costing on the basis of price of new bottles and charge the same price for the end-product.”
Availability of old glass bottles also facilitates the business of counterfeit and spurious products; unscrupulous businessmen sell inferior and sub-standard / spurious food products by packing the same in used bottles of reputed and branded products. In many European countries and US, glass packaging is a one way phenomenon i.e. the same bottle is not used again in Food & Pharma sectors. Even the Glass Packaging Institute located at Washington , D.C. strongly decries the reuse of bottles in Food & Pharma sectors because of problems of hygiene and safety. Adds Mr. Mukul Somany, Sr. Vice President, AIGMF “On the revenue front due to increasing trend of using the second hand bottles over the past two/three years, the current revenue loss to the central excise and sales tax authorities would be in excess of the total excise and tax revenue collected from the entire Glass Container Manufacturing industry!”
Recycling of used glass bottles is never a problem because each bit of broken glass is recycled to produce new glass which is as good as the one manufactured by using fresh raw materials and that too at a lower cost. Says Mr. Vishwakarma President, AIGMF “We at AIGMF therefore are recommending that the only way to stop these illegal & harmful practices is to create & enforce a policy of ‘Marking for Traceability’ so as to stop this unlawful and unhygienic re-usage of glass containers.” Traceability in Packaging is a worldwide phenomenon, which across the globe is generally used to identify specific lot of product to be identified or recalled. Traceability by Glass Packaging Industry, in the current Indian context, is slightly different and refers to identifying the bottles with a particular period of manufacture i.e. it actually pinpoints the vintage of the bottle. Adds Mr. Vishwakarma, “It has been decided to incorporate the marking declaring period of manufacture on the glass bottles in Food & Pharma sectors from July 09. Simultaneously, we will also be taking manufacturers of various products in confidence so that they support this cause. Various interested segments viz. Doctors, NGOs, concerned Ministries and Government officials will also be brought along so as to get better acceptability of the initiative.”
The major sectors for the Glass Containers are Food, FMCG, Pharmaceutical products, Beer, Alcohol, Soft drinks & Cosmetics. The size of the Glass Packaging industry is Rs. 4,500 cr & is growing at a healthy rate of 8 – 10% per annum & there is huge export potential to Europe, Americas and rest of the world. New rapidly expanding areas like Wine packaging are also opening up newer avenues for the industry & improved technologies & newer trends are propelling growth across sectors. The major players are Piramal Glass Ltd, Hindusthan National Glass & Ind. Ltd., AGI Glasspac (A division of HSIL), Haldyn Glass Ltd, Universal Glass, Excel Glass and Janta Glass amongst others. With large investments & State of the Art technologies, the industry has been able to make bottles with lighter weights, fancy shapes, finishes etc.
