It is friendly to the environment, as it is 100 percent recyclable and does not give off harmful substances to nature in its degradation process. It is the best option for the food, beverage, wine and liquor, beer, perfume, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries as it:

• Respects the aromas and flavors of its contents,
• Is inert with its contents,
• Is impermeable to gas, Does not require additives to conserve food,
• Is a perfect insulating material giving longer shelf life to products,
• Is hygienic as it is non-porous thus avoiding the formation of bacteria,
• Allows a person to see its contents, due to its transparency,
• Can be reused to hold another product, and
• Can be easily shaped to create an infinite variety of shapes, sizes and colors.

Our products also bring solutions to the construction and automotive industries:

• Gives good visibility and natural illumination,
• Regulates the percentage of visible light and ultraviolet and infrared energy,
• Controls excessive heat gain by reflecting light and incidental solar energy, protecting interior colors and textures,
• Offers thermal insulation characteristics by allowing the entry of light and attaining electric energy savings,
• Offers a high degree of safety and protection against shattering from impact,
• Glass has acoustical qualities by acting as a sound barrier and
• Allows for freedom in creativity and exclusive designs for decorating yet maintains its functionality.

Value added

We apply to the construction glass new technologies that offer a wide range of products with esthetic, functional, acoustical, thermal, and safety properties:

1. Double glazing and thermal control – allows for electric energy savings as much as 70 percent by reducing heat or cold transmission while reducing external noise.
2. Color – a wide range of tones that reduce heat transfer and ultraviolet rays protects colors and textures of furnishings and lowers energy consumption.
3. Safety – offers a high degree of protection against high impact or penetration and acts as an excellent sound barrier.
4. Decorating – colors and textures that give innovative effects for modern architecture, to both interiors and exteriors.

FIDE seal

The integration of the FIDE seal on some of our products, such as DOUVENT® termik, certifies its efficient performance and contribution to electrical energy savings.

Lighter glass containers

The reduction in weight of glass containers carries with it an important reduction in energy consumption and use of raw materials, allowing us to be more efficient in our production processes.

In the case of beer bottles the relationship between weight and content volume improved by 9.1 percent over the last five years and in beverages the improvement was 7.6 percent.

Just in 2008 we secured 25 projects to lighten the containers with the total support of our clients reaching a reduction in melted glass volume of 15,722 tons which translates into energy savings in the amount of 74,208 MMbtu’s.

In the past year we had a reduction of 12,063 tons of packaged product compared to a forecast of 8,335 tons in the beginning of the year. The variation is due to a softening in high demand products from two of our principal customers in the beginning of the year.

Organic paint

Regarding the use of organic paint in the labeling and decorating of glass containers, which avoids chemicals reaction harmful to humans or the environment, we continue our efforts to reduce the use of dangerous heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.

We export a significant amount of decorated containers that are 100 percent heavy metal free. In 2008 75 percent of these containers used organic paint compared to 70 percent the previous year. For 2009 our objective is to increase this percentage to 85 percent.

With regards to the Mexican market 100 percent of our containers are decorated with 100 percent lead free paints and approximately 80 percent are cadmium free.

We have proposed, together with our suppliers, to install the technology and necessary equipment so that by 2010 100 percent of decorated containers do not contain cadmium by which we would surpass the environmental norms that are applicable to México.