You may not have considered how the glass bottles you use every day – whether in the refrigerator or medicine cabinet – are designed to fulfil a purpose. From thickness to colour, each type of glass bottle has different qualities to suit its contents or function. In this guide, we’re focusing on the latter.
Here, Origin explores the different colours of glass bottles available and their unique qualities.
Blue glass
Blue glass – commonly referred to as ‘true blue’ glass, differentiating the shade from aqua glass – is likely to have been developed in the late 1700s – a considerable time for innovation and invention with the beginning of the industrial revolution.
The popular ‘Bristol blue’ glass (also known as ‘cobalt blue’) is made from a combination of fine cobalt oxide with lead crystal, creating its deep blue colour. Other popular shades of blue glass bottles include sapphire blue, midnight blue, cornflour blue and electric blue.
While blue glass provides moderate protection against harmful UV rays, it is not as effective as alternative tinted glass colours such as amber glass.
Blue glass bottles are popular for their attractive finish that makes products stand out on store shelves.
Green glass
There are more shades of green bottle glass than any other bottle colour, including peacock green, apple green, jade green, emerald green and grass green.
Several colouring agents are found in the creation of green glass, and with the impurities in the glass-making process, the colours all vary. Iron and copper produce very different green glass shades, and chemicals like chromium oxide produce a yellow-green colour.
Green glass, like blue glass, provides a moderate amount of protection against UV light. This is why green glass bottles are often used for beverages such as beer and sparkling water. However, green glass does not provide as much protection as darker shades such as amber and brown glass.
Amber glass
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, amber glass was very common. The natural impurities in the iron and manganese created the amber colouring, and colour additives like nickel and sulfur were added to glass in the form of materials like charcoal or wood chips.
There are many variations of amber – including yellow, golden and red amber, honey amber and olive amber – and the different densities of the glass colour vary, too.
Amber is among the most popular glass bottle finishes – providing plenty of protection against harmful UV light to keep its contents fresh, hygienic and safe.
Amber glass bottles are made from virgin materials and, compared with many alternative products, are easy to recycle – making them an attractive sustainable option for brands that are conscious of their environmental impact.
Clear glass
Clear glass – often also referred to as ‘colourless glass’ or ‘white glass’ – was often the traditional goal for glass manufacturers. However, it’s much harder to produce than coloured varieties.
Glassmakers initially found it challenging to find impurity-free material until improvements in chemistry and the methods used for glassmaking in the late 19th and early 20th centuries made creating clear glass easier.
While all glass provides some protection against UV light – which is why you don’t tan or burn through your home windows – clear glass provides much less protection compared with tinted glass.
Clear glass bottles are typically used in products where the consumer wants or needs to see the contents, for example, beauty products and cosmetics, food and drink products and medicines.
Glass bottles from Origin
Origin offers a range of pharmaceutical packaging solutions – developed in our state-of-the-art cleanroom – including clear, blue, green and amber glass bottles.
To find out more about the unique properties of glass packaging and find the perfect product for your medicines, contact our expert team.
