Extensions of Remarks 21937 ·
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August 1, 1969 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 21937 · EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS EFFORTS OF THE GLASS CONTAIN tion. Further, glass can be remelted for use most abundant of raw materials-silica ( ordi ER INDUSTRY IN PROBLEMS OF in the manuf·acture of new containers or as nary sand), limestone, and soda ash, which SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT raw material for other industries. are used in roughly the same proportion as Used as a packaging material, glass is inert, they occur in the crust of the earth. Silica, transparent, impermeable, non-porous, sani which constitutes 73 percent of a glass con HON. JENNINGS RANDOLPH tary, odorless, and can be multi-colored and tainer, is the most common substance in multi-shaped. Since it is inert, glass will not the earth's crust. It has been estimated that, OF WEST VIRGINIA leach, rust, rot, mold, putrefy, decompose, or at the present rate of use, the supply of IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES cause disease or noxious gases, as do many these ingredients of glass would last some 3 Friday, August 1, 1969 of the other packaging materials upon billion years. disposal. During proper disposal, glass can be reaq.- , Mr. RANDOLPH. Mr. President, the In fact, glass has been shown to be of little ily reduced to small particles and so returns Committee on Public Works recently or or no problem in disposal. In a landfill, glass to the soil in virtually its original state, dered reported to the Senate, S. 7, a ma fragments will not contribute to settling contributing nothing to air, water, or land· jor piece of legislation in the control and problems; in incineration, glass fragments pollution. aid in aeration, do not produce gases, and Moreover, these raw materials are well-dis- · abatement of water pollution and in en can be reclaimed. In compooting, ground tributed about the country and exist gen hancing the quality of our environment. glass acts as a soil conditioner if not erally near the surface of the ground. The As soon as this motion is cleared from reclaimed. steps in their processing into containers are the Senate and from conference with The role of packaging is to serve people. much fewer than for almost any other pack the House, the Subcommittee on Air and If, through laws and regulations, packaging aging material. Sections of quarries from Water Pollution of the Committee on is so modified to facilitate disposal that its which these materials have been removed Public Works will begin work on S. 2005, efficiency and convenience to the consumer are now being offered to municipalities as the Resources Recovery Act of 1969, in are substantially reduced, then the public is good locations for sanitary landfills. not being served. The glass container manufac,turing process troduced on April 29 by the distinguished On the surface, there is a contradiction be is an unusually "clean" one, and the ef-. junior Senator from Maine (Mr. Mus tween the aims of the convenience packager, fluents from the plants have a very mini KIE) who has given such outstanding which seem to call for a relatively durable mal effect on the environment. The basic leadership in the field of environmental material, and those of the waste processor. raw materials are stored in closed hoppers, legislation during recent years. Fortunately, the conflict is not irreconcilable carefully weighed and mixed, and melted As the title of S. 2005 indicates, the fo and research should uncover new approaches and refined in continuous furnaces. The cus of this legislation is on the recovery and new attitudes which will resolve these glass is then fed into machines which auto and reutilization of solid waste materials, problems. matically form the bottles in molds, after This paper considers glass containers, not which they undergo controlled cooling and not merely on their disposal. As Senator only with regard to their disposability, but are inspected and packed, ready for use. · MUSKIE stated in introducing this meas also the part they play in the overall ecology Properties.-In service, the properties of ure. of our country, which involves the relation glass are such as to make glass a very near- • If future generations of Americans are to of mankind to the natural resources on which ly ideal packaging material from many inherit adequate economical supplies of the his whole way of life depends. There is great standpoints. For all practical purposes, it is natural resources, we must move now to find danger in discussing disposal or destruction chemically inert. It is the most universally new ways of reusing solid wastes. of discarded consumer materials without re compatible packaging material, a fact which gard to the whole cycle in which the packag elimhrates the need for compatability testing In this respect I draw the attention ing materials come off the land, and, if not or the need for modifying ideal formulations of my colleagues to a publication of the salvaged, return to the land or to the atmos of products when they are packaged in glass. Glass Container Manufacturers Insti phere. To bring about the greatest good for It adds nothing to, and takes nothing from, tute, Inc., entitled "The Role of Glass the greatest number-and, in fact, to pre the contents. Containers in Solid Waste Disposal." As serve life on this planet as we know it to Glass is transparent, impermeable to gases day-it is absolutely essential that we ·ap and liquids, non-porous, sanitary, odorless, this article indicates, the glass container proach this subject as conservationists and and it may be made in various colors and industry is thinking creatively and con not simply as packagers or waste processors. formed in an infinite variety of shapes and structively about the problems of solid Recently, a high government official likened sizes. It can be tightly sealed and resealed, waste management with respect to this the earth to a space ship circling in its whch is a matter of great importance to prod product. I therefore ask unanimoUs con orbit, without recourse to any outer source uots which are used a little at a time. sent that the article be published in its for provisions, or for the necessities of life. Glass containers are leak-proof and rigid, entirety in the RECORD at this point. Except for the fact that earth received most and have great vertical strength which per There being no objection, the article of its original energy from the sun, most of mits stacking many tiers high for conserva- . our natural resources are not inexhaustible, tion of warehouse space and for easier han was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as once thought. Thus, it is essential that dling. Their rigidity and transparency make as follows: they be conserved through selective produc possible high speed filling and inspection, THE ROLE OF GLASS CONTAINERS IN SOLID tive use and recycling, wherever possible. while the inherent strength of glass enables WASTE DISPOSAL This is the most important stewardship of this type of container to withstand the in (By John H. Abrahams, Jr., Manager, Envi our generation. Even "final" disposal must be ternal pressures generated by beer and car ronmental Pollution Control Programs, accomplished in such a manner that it does bonated beverages. and Richard L. Cheney, Executive Director, not create pollution problems. To facilitate Future of glass in packaging.-Glass is a Glass Container Manufacturers Institute, disposal at the expense of conservation and mature packaging material, time-tested. sta Inc.) the preservation of our environment would, ble, low cost, and widely available. Even so, ABSTRACT indeed, be to refute this stewardship. the industry is continually improving its There seems to be a contradiction between Recognizing this, the glass container in products through extensive research. This the aims of the convenience packager, who dustry apparently was the first to set up an continuing research is directed toward glass uses a relatively durable material, and those industry-wide environmental pollution con containers which will: trol program whose primary purpose was to of the waste processor, but the conflict is 1. Properly contain and protect the con- reconcilable. solve problems presented by its products in tents and, at the same time, Another problem, equally complex, is the solid waste disposal. The program, set up by 2. Offer increased convenience at low cost, the Glass Container Manufacturers Institute, 3. Be lighter and stronger, entire cycle of raw material, use, and dis Inc., in September 1967, also deals with air posal of these materials. Even "final" dis and water pollution problems of its member 4. Be more easily disposable. posal of these resources must be approached manufacturing plants. One goal is a glass container that wi!l not from a conservation viewpoint to avoid cre break when dropped on a tile floor, for ex ating more pollution and to preserve our Glass-the universal packaging material ample, but when hit hard enough to even environment. · People today are talking about an "ulti tually break, will fall into harmless gran Thus, glass can be considered a universal mate" packaging material, referring to its ules. A university scientist is working on a packaging material, since it is made from utility and disposibility. Perhaps they should water soluble glass, which would be protected the most abundant of raw materials and, be thinking in terms of an "universal" or by a coating inside and out but when broken during proper disposal, can be readily re "ideal" packaging material and measure would dissolve in the atmospheric moisture .. duced to small particles and returned. to the existing materials against this ideal. This Although there are some very serious prac soil in virtually its original state, contrib can be done with regard to glass containers.