Glass represents the ultimate container of quality, purity, clarity and substance. Glass bottles are far less likely to shatter if dropped due to lightweighting technology, which has not only reduced the weight of containers, but also provided much more consistent wall thickness, producing a stronger container. According to O-I, glass packaging continues to dominate many key international packaged goods markets. Of 53.3BN/tpa of glass containers produced worldwide in 2005, some 42% were made in Europe, with 27% produced the the Americas & Asia Pacific. According to Market & Business Development in a recent report, the UK market increased by 1% in 2005 to reach £643.2M. It also reports that the proportional importance of glass increased from 7% in 2004 to 8% in 2005.
