A new glassware company will soon be turning millions of discarded bottles into extraordinarily beautiful drinking glasses, goblets and tumblers. Green Glass USA will begin Grafting its unique, one-of-a-kind glassware this spring when it opens the doors to a new manufacturing facility in Stratford, WI.

It's a subsidiary of a successful South African that has been creating glassware so appreciated and valued, that is collected throughout Europe and other parts of the world as art glass.

"The glasses are so unusual and intriguing, people pick them up and marvel at them," said Green Glass CEO Sean Penrith. "What makes the products even more attractive is the magical story behind the origin and Grafting of the glasses."

Green Glass artisans select the bottles for reuse as glassware based on their intrinsic shape, color intensity and glass character. The selection includes everything from clear glass to riveting hues such as blue, green and olive.

Once a bottle is selected, it is converted into a glass through a patented inversion process in which the base of the bottle is removed and attached to the neck or mouth to become the stem of the glass.

"The concept is simple and elementary," Penrith said. "Yet the process is technologically complex."

By using the entire bottle. Green Glass is able to retain the essence of its shape, thus preserving the artistic contour and design of the original vessel. The glassware can be further customized with engraved messages or logos. Frosted designs are also available.

"In addition to their unmatched aesthetic value, the glasses are also functional," Penrith said. "People will use them several times a day for many years to come."

Glassware company takes recycling to new level

An innovative glassware company has come up with a unique way of preserving the environment while also preserving the brand image of the original product. Green Glass USA is taking millions of discarded empty bottles from the waste stream and converting them into elegant, functional drinking glasses through a patented inversion process.

"It's an example of recycling in its purest, most advanced form," Green Glass CEO Sean Penrith explained. "The Green Glass concept is actually one step higher than conventional recycling. It's reuse."

Conventional recycling requires bottles to be broken down and placed into a furnace. As a result, a larger amount of time and energy is needed to complete the process. The Green Glass process uses the entire bottle in its original form. The glasses are fashioned by cutting the base from the bottle and reattaching it to the bottleneck/mouth. The result is unique stemware created from an inverted bottle.

Unlike most recycled products, the glasses are valuable. Revered as collectable art glass overseas. Green Glass products have also become immensely popular in the corporate world.

• Beverage companies like the brand building value of the glasses, which increase exposure by retaining the shape and image of their trademark bottles.

• Non-beverage companies often add a corporate name or logo and use the glasses as promotional items at trade shows, sales conferences and new product introductions or as corporate gifts, recognition and award incentives and other brand merchandising functions.

• The Green Glass concept is beneficial to recyclers, who can now get prices several times the normal value for their bottles without having to crush them.

The glassware has been so popular worldwide that the South African-based company will be opening a new high-volume production facility in the Central Wisconsin village of Stratford this spring.

"It connotes a positive corporate commitment to environmental stewardship," Penrith said. "People purchasing the glasses also know they are doing something positive for the environment."