Starline (PPAI 112719, S10) has introduced a new lead-free sealing process for vacuum drinkware. The Grand Island, New York, supplier says it is the first manufacturer in the promotional products industry to implement the technology.
“The traditional method of sealing vacuum drinkware uses a drop of glass-encased lead at the base of the piece,” says Julie Fritsch, Starline’s vice president of marketing. “When this new lead-free process became available, we jumped at the chance to implement it as our way of continuing the development of environmentally-friendly products.”
Brian Porter, Starline’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, adds, “With the quality and performance of our drinkware, our closest competitors are national retail brands. To date, Hydro Flask is the only known brand that has introduced the lead-free seal to the retail marketplace. Other brands like YETI have addressed the issue by capping off the seal so their drinkware is lead-free on all accessible components. We are early adapters of the lead-free seal, and we hope that more manufacturers will follow suit in these efforts.”
Starline estimates that over the past two years it has spent more than $1 million implementing the new lead-free sealing process. In addition to the higher cost of the new seal, factories also need to dedicate special machines and buildings to the process to avoid any cross-contamination.
Porter says, “At the end of the day, we’re looking to produce a product that is kept for a generation or more and that leaves an environmentally-friendly footprint. Our drinkware is safe and lead-free from its inception, all the way through to the hands of the user, and even after the lifespan of the product is finally over.”
