The Manufacturing Process of Glass Bottles and Jars

The manufacturing process for glass bottles and jars can be traced through human civilisations for thousands of years. Although the key ingredients have broadly remained the same, the process for manufacturing glass has developed. Where once everything was blown, now machines run 24 hours a day, producing thousands of bottles and jars.

The mass production of glass bottles and jars requires constant refinement and analysis of the process. Improvements are based on strict chemistry, rigorous analysis and constant innovation in equipment and technology. This leads to greater efficiencies, ensuring that standards stay high.

Melting Raw Materials

Our glass is created from a carefully balanced mixture of sand, soda ash and limestone. This is channelled into the furnace on a continuous basis and melted at temperatures around 1565°C to form molten glass. The molten glass flows from the furnace and passes through refractory channels where it is refined and cooled. When it is the correct temperature and viscosity, the molten glass is then cut to size. These pieces are referred to as gobs of glass.

Producing Bottles and Jars

The cut gobs of glass are delivered into a machine to be moulded, forming bottles and jars. The mixing, melting, and forming processes are precisely controlled using sophisticated automatic measuring and control systems. Once formed, the glass is coated and cooled before being processed for quality checks to identify and remove any defective items. Defective bottles and jars are crushed into cullet and melted back into to the mixture. Cullet requires less energy to melt, improving the efficiency of the glass-making process.

Quality Control

Ensuring the bottles are an acceptable standard goes through many stages, both automatic and manual. These stages including thermal shock (rapid cooling of the glass), chemical balance analysis, weight and capacity threshold checks and more. These stringent and thorough checks all help to ensure that the highest of standards are being adhered to.

Storage and Shipment

When the bottles and jars are produced, they are stacked on pallets according to our customers’ requirements. This variety includes the material of the layers between the glass, the heights the pallets are stacked and more. From here, they are kept in carefully maintained warehouses until the time has come for them to be shipped.

Environmental Impact

Made entirely from naturally abundant raw materials, glass is infinitely recyclable, and with the aid of both national and international schemes, recovery rates now exceed 70%. By introducing cullet to our glass recipe, we are working to further reduce the environmental impact, cutting both energy usage and CO2 emissions.

To learn more about which bottle types are right for your business, take a look at our wine bottles. Alternatively, contact our sales team on 01799 533 400.