Glass Packaging and Tableware

As a manufacturer, importer, distributor or user of glass packaging materials or tableware, your branding is your face to the market and to the end consumer. Hence glass - in principle safe material - is also brittle and prone to breakage. Poor production and process control in manufacturing of bottles, jars, flasks etc. increases the chances of defects and damages that may affect your product and brand as a water or soft drinks producer, winery, liquor distillery, beer brewery, nutrition manufacturer, food processor or even a fragrance producer. TÜV Rheinland has therefore implemented a whole range of services in order to certify the quality of your glass products for packaging and tableware.

The experts of TÜV Rheinland are proficient and leading-edge in there area of speciality. They use state-of-the arts test equipment in various testing procedures and methods for all sorts of bottles, packaging materials and tableware. Some examples:

• Thermal shock (in tea glasses)
• Impact resistance
• Internal pressure resistance
• Closing and opening issues
• Residual stresses
• Glass identification

With TÜV Rheinland as your partner in testing of glass packaging and tableware, your glass products:

• Are certified in compliance with the AQL (Acceptable Quality Limit) sampling plan for testing acceptable levels
• Are verified for new glass packaging production processes
• Are tested for internal burst pressure of returnable and refillable bottles
• Are exposed to rigorous safety tests
• Contribute significantly to your brand protection and promise

• Internal pressure resistance
• Vertical load testing
• Impact testing
• Dimensional inspection
• Glass fault measurements
• Closure and finish inspections
• Hot-end and cold-end coating testing
• Damage and cause inspection of broken objects
• Chemical analysis
• Wall and bottom thickness testing
• Colour determination
• Scuffing and residual internal pressure resistance testing for refillable bottles and jars
• Closure top and seal testing

Alongside routine checks and testing of glass, we also provide services in the areas of:

• Evaluation of new designs and/or prototypes (bottles, jars, flasks, glass, jugs, cups, etc.)
• Identification of origin of glass fragments found in food and drinks
• HACCP certification (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points: glass-free production facilities in the food and beverages industry)
• Vials and caps made of glass
• Assessment of market entry and glass distribution
• www.certipedia.com – the TÜV Rheinland web-based and online certificates database provides real-time proof of your CE mark, Certificates and implemented Quality Systems
• Direct contact with glass testing and certification experts

The output generated through our glass testing and certification projects is used as the basis for approval of batches of glass to be delivered to users of packaging glass.

Based on low, medium, and high-carbonized drinks, the thresholds for safety levels vary. Some beverage and food companies also have additional demands.

With our tests and related reports the food and beverage industry can rely on the quality standards are to use glass a packaging material.

As we know that JIT (Just-in-Time) processing is a key success factor in the industry we are flexible and adopt our pace of working and service levels each individual customer. Therefore, our test results and reports are usually available immediately one day after batch production closure.

Some examples of the types of projects TÜV Rheinland manages:

• Maximum and minimal glass wall thickness of one-way disposable glass and flasks, flagons, jars, glass, cups, etc.
• Yearly sampling and testing of returnable and refillable bottles, flagons, flasks, jars etc.
• Testing of various specifications and demands on low, medium, and high-carbonized pressure drinks
• Thermal shock testing, including tea glasses and vases that are heated by sunlight
• Tension imaging of glass objects for residual testing
• Burst pressure resistance
• Testing programs, from "full" to "quick" test programs
• FPC (Factory Production Control) Audits: periodic quality control audits to comply with the required quality system, continuous product testing, and proof for users that the product is stable and consistent