Step 1: The Recipe
We use sand, limestone, soda ash and recycled glass in our glass recipe. Then the combined ingredients are sent to the furnace to melt.
Step 2: Melting
Our furnace heats the batch mixture to about 1,565 degrees Celsius, or 2,850 degrees Fahrenheit, creating molten glass.
Step 3: The “Gob”
The molten glass is removed from the furnace, cooled to a uniform temperature and cut into “gobs” to form our glass containers.
Step 4: Forming
We divert the gobs into forming machines and then mold them into beautiful, functional O-I glass containers.
Step 5: Conditioning
Formed containers pass through the lehr, a machine that reheats and gradually cools them to relieve any stresses and strengthen the glass.
Step 6: Inspection
Finally, we inspect our glass containers to make sure they meet our high quality standards. We recycle and remelt any containers that fail to meet these standards.