Questions reguarding the use of glass.

[red maples]

So just thinking about glass vs plastic and an initial investment. I have more people asking for glass lately but alot of people like the plastic too.

Thinking on the terms of milk in the glass bottles.

Does anyone that uses glass charge a deposit and except returns on the glass?
Is there a way to safely wash sanitze and reuse them?
Do you allow people to bring back glass for a refill and give them a credit because they are only buying syrup not the container?

I don't wanna make it too confusing just curious if there is anyone else doing that, if its worth it, and the regulation reguarding it.

We have a local soda 2 towns over (swampscot soda) I talked to him and he said it was way cheaper in the long run. he said people would brin gin bottles that would sit their garage for months be moldy and some not reusable and we would have to honor the deposit. he said it really became a nightmare. So they switched to a recyclable bottle and saved money on glass labor cleaning supplies running the bottle washer. which makes alot of sense.

SO I don't wanna open a can of worms and make more work for myself than I really need to. just curious. What others think and might be doing.

[delivron]

I don't know anyone who refills glass. It has one big advantage because once you put the syrup in the glass and seal it the color will stay consistence for a lot longer period of time. One reason many commercial bottlers will put a 1 year date on syrup in plastic vs. 2 years in glass.

[Bruce L]

Brad,we use to refill glass,for a few years we packed only glass,right from 4 liters down to 50 ml.Consumers liked that they could see their product,and get every last drop out of it.Take any can,no matter how you hold it you cannot totally empty it.We could take the glass,sterilize it with boiling water,and it would completely drain.We would knock off the price since we didn't have to buy containers,so consumers really liked it.Then a new regulation came out here in Canada where we are not allowed to reuse any containers,all have to be brand new.This is probably something the container companies helped come up with.A few years ago,a customer complained to me that she wanted me to reuse her can,she had carefully washed it and could save herself a few bucks.I explained to her that new regulations didn't allow me to reuse any containers at all.Incidentally,she was our retired medical officer of health for our area,salary of $180,000 plus per year(published in the local paper) and her husband draws in over $250,000 per year(he is a specialist) So with a combined income of $430,000 or more per year she wanted me to cheat on the regs and save her $2.50,go figure!!!!