MILK IN GLASS FAQ
Q. When will the milk in the new glass bottles be available?
Our milk in glass bottles has been available for purchase in retail outlets in Victoria since Friday April 12th, 2019.
Q. Where can i purchase schulz milk in glass bottles?
Find our list of stockists (only in Victoria) here: www.schulzorganicdairy.com.au/glass-bottle-retailers
You can also purchase our milk in glass bottles from our stalls at selected Farmers Markets around Victoria, check that list here: www.schulzorganicdairy.com.au/farmers-markets
Q. How much milk is in each glass bottle?
Each glass bottle holds 1-litre of milk.
Q. Will you be releasing reduced fat milk in glass bottles?
No, at this stage only full fat milk in 1-litre bottles will be available. We don’t have any future plans for reduced fat milk in glass as we are seeing the demand for this milk drop.
Q. What is the cost of the milk in glass bottles?
Retailers will set their own price per 1 litre bottle. The additional element will be a $2 refundable deposit per glass container unit.
Q. Why is there a refundable deposit charge for the glass bottle?
Creating a circular economy is the only way to truly minimise waste. We want to get many many uses out of these glass bottles and we believe that putting a price on the vessel is the best way to do this. In fact, evidence we gathered from overseas showed that a container deposit scheme ensured a bottle was more frequently returned if a deposit was requested. We hope that a returnable deposit helps incentivise consumers and retailers to return the bottles.
Q. How do we return the glass bottles?
Return the glass bottle(s) to any of the Retailers (schulzorganicdairy.com.au/glass-bottle-retailers) or to the Schulz Organic Dairy stand at Farmers’ Markets (schulzorganicdairy.com.au/farmers-markets).
Q. What condition does the bottle need to be in, in order for the retailer to accept the returns?
This is where we will really rely on you guys to make this thing work. The retailer will ONLY accept the bottle if:
Glass bottle: is the Schulz bottle (not an alternative brand or type) - our bottle has a distinct moulding with the Schulz logo. The bottle must be COMPLETELY clean of milk residue. We recommend giving the glass bottle a thorough clean with hot water AS SOON as it is empty so the milk doesn’t have time to dry (which makes it very hard to get off of the bottle). It can go in the dishwasher as well, so once it has had a good clean by hand you can put it into the dishwasher for an even deeper clean. Check to make sure that there is no milk residue left in the moulding of the Schulz logo, in the corners or around the lip of the bottle. The bottle must also have no chips, scratches, cracks or damage of any kind.
Return the glass bottles NAKED: We are asking that you return our glass bottles totally naked. The lid, tamper-evidence ring and cardboard sleeve can now all be placed in the recycling bin. Ideally these will all be recycled, but - just in case the tamper-evidence ring somehow makes it into nature - this ring should be cut in half before put in the recycling bin as preventative measure so it doesn’t choke any wildlife.
The glass bottles do NOT need to be returned with the lid, tamper-evidence ring and cardboard sleeve.
Returning the glass bottles naked (as well as thoroughly cleaned and in good condition) means that we are able to get them cleaned and refilled in our factory quicker. This means that we are able to get more filled glass milk bottles back into the community quicker - everyone wins!
Q. why do i have to clean the glass bottle?
If the glass milk bottles are not cleaned properly or at all and milk residue remains, this creates a food safety hazard for our business and the dirty bottles have to be thrown out due to their contamination risk.
Our glass bottle system is designed to be a circular process for waste elimination (eliminating both recycling and landfill). All (clean) returned bottles that we receive are rewashed, sanitised and refilled inside our processing facility, but if we accept dirty bottles back we run the risk of contaminating our entire plant. Therefore, we simply CANNOT accept dirty bottles or give the refund for bottles that don’t meet the return glass policy we have set.
This system, to work effectively, does require equal commitment from all of our stockists and consumers.
If we get back clean bottles in the required conditions (no milk residue, chips, scratches or cracks) then it actually also makes the process faster at the plant. This means that we can get out more filled glass milk bottles than we would be able to when dealing with dirty bottles, which is a win for everyone!
Q. The lids are plastic - why use plastic lids when you are trying to close-the-loop?
We trialled a number of lids of differing materials as part of our research. The criteria for determining the best lid to align with our production, safety and philosophical needs was:
As sustainable as possible - either closing-the-loop or fully recyclable
Tamper-proof - a critical food safety safeguard, especially for retail.
Production compliant - able to be lidded as part of our production machinery and infrastructure
The options we explored were:
Solid aluminium lids: sound reusable in theory, but those currently available have a plastic insert to prevent leaking. Production of aluminium products also consumes large amounts of energy, thereby generating its own carbon output issues. These lids also require expensive application equipment that made it uneconomical at this point in time
Peel-back light aluminium lids: We considered these however because our milk is unhomogenised and requires a fair amount of shaking to disperse the cream these we deemed not ideal. Also they don't have the ability to be resealed, and therefore it would be impossible to reshake the bottle when the cream rises overnight. These lids are also too easy to tamper with.
Steel lids: these lids also have a plastic insert to prevent leaking and during our trials rusted through the washing cycle (and didn’t have tamper evidence rings). This lid type would require an additional plastic label to provide the tamper evidence that regulation requires.
Despite our exhaustive research, plastic lids remain the best option - for the moment. We continue to talk with manufacturers to seek new solutions - it is not just us that are pushing for this industry change.
The lids we are using are made from plastic and are fully recyclable. Unfortunately the lids cannot be reused because the plastic is subtly porous and therefore cannot be safely cleaned and reused. We have managed to reduce our plastic per bottle from approximately 42g to 4g. We are still looking at lid alternatives and resources to collaborate with to use our current plastic lids.
You can recycle the lids and collars at these Famers Markets: Alphington, Eltham and Coburg. You can also recycle them in your recycling bin (please check with your local council that they accept that type of plastic). More info here.
Q. What do you do with the plastic lids if they are not reusable?
Plastic lids remain the best option for sealing our milk-in-glass bottles - for the moment anyway.
If you know a great organisation up-cycling plastic that we can support, let us know!
Q. What is the lifecycle of each glass bottle (how many times is one bottle likely to be reused)?
We estimate that each bottle will have a reuse lifespan of at least 8 refills, but the system has successfully shown it to be much more than that! Our moulded bottles have the year of manufacture embossed into the glass - this is a key way for us to establish the longevity of their use.
Q. How much plastic is saved by using one reusable glass bottle?
Each glass bottle sold will save approximately 40g of plastic, or 120 kg per week across 3,000 bottles.
Q. how can i support you guys to make change?
Tell your friends and share share share on social media! If you are part of low or zero-waste groups, let them know about us as well.