The ‘Believers in Glass’ movement, tied up with Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC, is giving away free glass bottles for water storage in vehicles. This was conducted in selected IOC petrol stations recently. The campaign ‘Don’t drive and drink toxic water’ called out to people not to carry water or store water in plastic for long, as plastic in the bottles leach chemicals into the water thus poisoning it.
Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC MD Sanjay Tiwari explained further that as per various global research, mineral water, if stored in plastic bottles, has 27 percent higher Bromates than WHO standards (4 mg in 1 litre is the maximum limit) and also more Chlorites and Chlorates. Another research revealed the presence of harmful elements such as antimony, lead and cadmium in liquids stored in plastic.
When exposed to over 40 degrees Celsius of heat, plastic bottles can leach chemicals such as Bisphenol A (BPA) and Diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) into your water, thus making it toxic, whereas glass provides a protective shield against such chemicals. These toxic chemicals may cause a negative effect on your immune system, hormonal imbalance, baldness, asthma in children, diabetes, hypertension, pancreatic malfunction, liver and kidney problems and even cancer.
New research shows that BPA negatively affects the chances of conceiving and results in a higher risk of miscarriages. Antimony leads to heart muscle damage, Cadmium causes respiratory tract infections and DEHP has already been banned in many countries.
All this data means that one should always store water in glass.
The Believers in Glass movement elaborated further on the benefits of using glass. Glass is made from natural raw materials, which are advantageous to our health since the glass has an outstanding barrier that fights and protects against outside influences. Glass is also nonporous and impermeable.
Glass has the capability to withstand extreme heat and cold, this enables glass to prevent any reaction with the contents it holds, while maintaining its freshness and durability. It also helps to maintain the aroma, flavour and freshness of food and does not negatively affect its contents in any way. It is perfect for the long-term preservation of food in its original state.
Besides personal health, there are also environmental reasons to use glass as against other forms of packaging.
Worldwide only one out of five plastic bottles gets recycled, while the rest are either burnt or land filled. Each of these plastic bottles takes about 700 years to decompose naturally.
Plastic bottles end up threatening our wildlife and harming the environment, thus making our world a less beautiful place. Glass on the other hand is 100 percent recyclable which in turn makes it environment-friendly.
A used glass bottle can always be recycled into a new one, because glass is 100 percent recyclable. Every ton of glass that is recycled saves more than a ton of the raw materials needed to create new glass. This proves that glass is very respectful of our environment, reducing landfills and saves energy.
The above launch is in continuation of the movement Believers in Glass, which was launched recently, to create awareness and educate the public to use the right form of packaging.
Piramal Glass Ceylon, as part of its corporate social responsibility, is involved in several activities. One of the major activities is that it collects waste glass from independent waste collectors around the entire island and recycling them. This helps to save energy and natural resources of the country, apart from generating an income for many individuals. Piramal Glass Ceylon has established glass collection centres at all major divisional secretariats, which enables households and corporates to dispose of the waste glass.
To support the above initiative Piramal Glass Ceylon has taken lead to form an association for waste recycling namely ‘Sri Lanka Recyclers’ Association’.
In continuation of its commitment to society and the environment, Piramal Glass Ceylon has supported the Believer in Glass movement and has started its journey of transformation, by not only educating but giving alternate solutions. This launch is just the beginning.
(Source 15/07/2016 Dailly Mirror http://epaper.dailymirror.lk/epaper/viewer.aspx)
