ONECOAT · Development of a polymer strengthening coating system for glass containers

Europe is the first producer of glass containers worlwide. However, various threats endanger the sustainability of this key industry: imports from low-cost labour countries outside Europe increased and more than 14,000 employments were lost in the European glass industry during the last 3 years. In addition, glass directly competes with other materials for packaging applications, especially plastics. It is cleaner, non-reactive, tasteless, chemically inert, fully recyclable and transparent but its surface is relatively brittle and prone to scratching which will result in premature breakage during the manipulation of the containers. Weight is also a drawback as an important percentage of the production costs from the food and beverage industries comes from transport of glass containers .Most of the glass containers produced nowadays are treated with an organic coating after formation to improve its resistance. There is a great demand from the glass containers industry itself for advanced coatings that allow improvement of mecahnical resistance and weight reduction. OneCoat will develop a coating material and application technology for glass containers based on polysiloxane (silicone) water emulsion with the following characteristics:- Competitive in price- Improved 30% overall resistance and 25% higher resistance to scratching allowing for a 10% reduction in weight of glass containers and increase of returns cycles (>40)- Highly versatile coating technology useful for different industry segments involved in the supply chain of glass containers (manufacturers, decorators and packaging companies).- Application by spraying from water emulsion and drying of the material with speeds of up to 800 bottles/min in modern production lines.- Compatible with the recycling process of glass.- Free of VOCs during the application process and safe for use in contact with foods and edible products