Uncle Ben´s reduces weight of glass jars

Food brand owner Mars has launched a new lightweight glass jar, thanks to a research project supported by WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme. The weight of 30 million Uncle Ben´s jars produced each year was reduced from 258g to 243g.

Part of the GlassRite series of trials launched in August 2006, the project run by the Faraday Packaging Partnership in Leeds and Ardagh Glass in the Netherlands has enabled a 6% reduction in the weight of Uncle Ben´s sauce jars. WRAP believes turning the previously 258g jar into a 243g jar will save 450 tonnes of glass each year, and the equivalent in emissions to taking 192 cars off the road.

Nicola Jenkin from WRAP´s retail team said: "Crucially, the new jar can be manufactured smoothly on our existing production lines. It has meant the creation of new moulds by our glass supplier and involved the slight increase in the diameter of the label recess area to create a smoother design, coupled with a slight reduction in the height of the jar. Together these innovations have delivered the lighter jar."