Lightweight wine

The GlassRite Wine project, funded by  the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), has shown that bulk importing of wine into the UK and the use of lighter weight bottles can lead to major environmental and business benefits for the wine industry.

The first phase of GlassRite Wine ran from Summer 2006 to March 2008. As a result, instead of being bottled at source, 199 million 75cl glass bottles are now filled with bulk imported wine each year in the UK. This is an increase of 79 million glass bottles. And, with more wine bottles being made in the UK, the use of recycled glass has increased by nearly 24,000 tonnes per year.

Furthermore, due to lightweighting in the industry, glass packaging has been reduced by 11,400 tonnes per year: more than 350 different wine label bottles have been lightweighted during the project.

In addition, as a result of the first phase of the project, the wine importing industry has cut CO2 emissions by over 28,000 tonnes in the last year, which is equivalent to taking more than 8,500 cars off the road. Details of a second phase of work will be announced shortly.

Nicola Jenkin, WRAP’s Beverages Category Manager, commented: “GlassRite Wine has worked with the industry to illustrate that sustainable business practices do not have to compromise commercial values or quality. For example, modern bulk importing methods mean wine is less susceptible to the temperature variations that could impair quality, while lighter weight bottles are often stronger than their heavier counterparts.”