Practical Fundamentals of Glass Packaging

Glass has been used for thousands of years, and its uses have ranged from ornamental purposes to containers, to optical instrumentation. Glass is quite versatile and is still used for all of these purposes. The goal of this article is to describe the use of glass as a primary packaging component, in particular for the use of sterile, pharmaceutical products. The emphasis of the article is on sterile, pharmaceutical products due to the specific requirements needed for the glass for use in this type of packaging. It is critical that there are no interactions between the product and the glass packaging that could make the product unacceptable for use. This article describes the requirements needed for sterile, pharmaceutical products; describes the manufacturing processes for glass containers; and describes how the packaging is treated prior to use.