SPECIAL EDITION: BOTTLING WINE IN A CHANGING CLIMATE... MAINTAINING MOMENTUM. GlassRite Wine

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1 SPECIAL EDITION: BOTTLING WINE IN A CHANGING CLIMATE... MAINTAINING MOMENTUM GlassRite Wine May 2010 Welcome WRAP s GlassRite Wine project has worked in partnership with the global wine industry since September 2006 to drive innovation in sustainably packaged and distributed wine. Our focus has been on encouraging the use of lighter weight glass wine bottles and the bulk importation of wine for filling in Europe, and creating a market for the UK s recycled green glass. As the project draws to a close, we celebrate its success and launch a web-based guide, developed to help companies across the globe continue to maximise the opportunities available. Celebrating success around the globe The wine industry has demonstrated a real commitment to reducing its carbon impact and the effect this has had can be seen in the results. Glass wine packaging has been reduced by 27,000 tonnes per year and bulk importation to the UK has grown by the equivalent of 190 million bottles. This has contributed carbon savings of more than 35,000 tonnes per year derived from bottle manufacture and the use of recycled material. Behind these numbers lie a range of initiatives led by project partners around the world and across the whole supply chain, many of which are celebrated over the coming pages. This success has also resulted in the GlassRite Wine project being recognised with a Special Contribution award in the Logistics and Supply Chain Green Initiative category at the 2010 Drinks Business Green Awards. To help more companies benefit from lighter weight wine bottles, bulk importation and recycled content, WRAP has developed a comprehensive web-based guide. To access this and view the results of the project in full, please visit

2 We consider the range of weights and colours as key to offering the wine industry some real choice when considering UK bottling. Stuart Santon, Sales Manager, Ardagh Glass UK A weighty issue To help companies make the most of the growing opportunities for lightweighting, the GlassRite Wine project has supported more than 35 initiatives across the globe. Companies involved in these initiatives include Chilean producer Concha y Toro, which has worked with glass manufacturer Cristal Chile to lower its typical Burgundy bottle weight from 480g to 420g and its Bordeaux bottle weight from 420g to 385g, cutting around 2,395 tonnes of CO2 emissions from bottle manufacture alone. Concha y Toro has used bottle collars to communicate the changes to consumers, citing the energy and transport emissions savings and explaining the reasons behind the introduction of lighter weight bottles. Many have also benefitted from taking a staged approach. Among them is Constellation Europe, which has reduced bottle weights for many of its brands, including Echo Falls, Stowell s and Hardy s, from 435g to 380g and then to 330g over three stages. Staging has allowed the company to implement the necessary technical changes to its lines and work with glass suppliers to ensure lightweighted bottles remain fit for purpose. This activity has provided glass savings of 5,775 tonnes for its UK filled wines, equating to a carbon emissions saving of 4,539 tonnes during bottle manufacture. An information sheet on the opportunities for lightweighting is available at Similarly, US company Brown- Forman has lightweighted the Fetzer brand which it exports to Europe. This involved using WRAP s Wine Ready Reckoner tool to calculate the savings available and working with glass supplier O-I North America to cut bottle weights from 536g to 400g. This will provide a glass saving of 831 tonnes and generate a CO2 emission saving from the bottle manufacture of 648 tonnes.

3 New bottle designs Such activity has produced increased demand for lighter bottles, with the choice of available designs rapidly growing. This has allowed companies in markets around the world to take advantage of the benefits while ensuring the bottles they use are fit for purpose. Ranges include O-I Australia s Lean+Green TM bottles range, which has reduced weights by up to 28% while maintaining the proportions and premium image required by brand owners. This is expected to save around 20,000 tonnes of glass packaging every year and the success of the range has led to O-I Europe and O-I New Zealand introducing further options, including new 300g and 345g standard Bordeaux bottles in the UK. Furthermore, St Gobain has introduced a lightweight range named Ecova, reducing bottle weights and the carbon emitted during production by up to 15%, while Consol Glass, South Africa s leading glass manufacturer, has introduced a screw cap, 75cl wine bottle that weighs 350g. Ardagh Glass is extending its range of Bordeaux style bottles by developing a 300g option that will be available in the UK later this year in flint, green and autumn leaf. A design for the first commercially viable 300g wine screw cap bottle is also available to download for free at Weighing 40g less than the previous lightest bottle available in the UK, the bottle was developed by a WRAP-led consortium involving Tesco, Quinn Glass and Kingsland Wine & Spirits and has received significant interest from major retailers. To help all companies identify a lightweight bottle design which meets their needs, WRAP has developed a comprehensive directory of the options available on the international market. Available at it is regularly updated and contains detailed information for more than 120 bottles so if you re a bottle manufacturer, make sure your products are included! The Lean+Green TM range will enable producers to standardise their filling requirements, secondary packaging and distribution needs while maximising the environmental and commercial benefits on offer. What s more, it will enable them to compete in increasingly environmentallyconscious markets both at home and overseas. Reaction has been extremely positive and we have now extended our lighter-weight options to encompass four new colours in direct response to demand from our customers. Greg Ridder, President of O-I Asia Pacific

4 There have also been major achievements in lightweighting Champagne and sparkling wine bottles, which need to withstand significant internal pressure and often weigh between 800g and 900g. Champagne and sparkling wine There have also been major achievements in lightweighting Champagne and sparkling wine bottles, which need to withstand significant internal pressure and often weigh between 800g and 900g. The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), for example, has demonstrated that 65g of weight can be removed from standard Champagne bottles without impacting bottle strength, product quality or consumer perception, while WRAP research has shown that up to 9,270 tonnes of glass could be saved per year on UK consumed bottles. An information sheet providing more detail on opportunities for lightweighting sparkling wine bottles is available at The wine industry bulks up The benefits of bulk importing wine to Europe include reductions of up to 40% in transport costs and emissions, together with a greater ability to respond to fluctuations in demand, an enhanced shelf life and a lower risk of bottle damage as a result of bottling closer to the point of sale. Bulk importation also creates a market for recycled green glass in the UK, which imports far more wine around 1.16 billion litres per year than it produces. In addition, technological developments mean bulk importation generally has little or no impact on wine quality, with improvements to flexitank materials significantly reducing the risk of oxidation, temperature fluctuations and taint. As a result, more and more companies are moving towards bulk importation. These include Constellation Europe, which has opened a new bottling plant near Avonmouth in the UK, allowing it to bulk import an additional 57 million bottles of wine. In a similar move, Fosters EMEA has increased its bulk importation to the UK by more than 31,000 bottles, while Bibbendum has introduced bulk importation for many of its South American, South African and USA wines. Nevertheless, there is scope for more. Research carried out by WRAP among a representative industry sample has revealed potential for an additional 46.7 million litres of bulk imported wine. With wider industry buy-in this figure could rise to 144 million litres, consuming up to 36,893 tonnes of recycled glass. What s more, the UK s wine filling sector could increase production by at least 274 million litres, while UK manufacture of 75cl wine bottles could rise by 140 million units within its current infrastructure sufficient to accommodate 105 million litres of wine. A full copy of the research report is available at bulkimportreport

5 Size matters: opportunities for small and medium volumes It is not only those handling large volumes of wine who can benefit from changes to wine packaging and transportation there are many opportunities available for small and medium volumes as well. This was the topic of a recent WRAP event held to enable representatives from across the industry to discuss the barriers to change and explore potential solutions. A number of options were identified, including establishing buying groups to purchase lightweight bottles in a costeffective way and working with bottle merchants to purchase smaller quantities of bottles. Split flexitanks also mean bulk importation is becoming viable for those importing volumes which would not fill an entire tank. Companies of all sizes can use WRAP s Wine Ready Reckoner, available at to explore the cost savings and carbon reductions which they could achieve. It is not only those handling large volumes of wine who can benefit from changes to wine packaging and transportation.

6 Other WRAP activities Call to action WRAP is also continuing to work with the wine industry through a number of initiatives: The Courtauld Commitment Constellation Europe and Fosters EMEA have signed up to the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment, a voluntary agreement between WRAP and the UK grocery sector to reduce the amount of packaging, food and drink waste in households and product waste in the supply chain. First launched in 2005, the Commitment is a powerful vehicle for change and, after achieving its initial targets of eliminating all growth in packaging despite sales increases and population growth, the second phase has been launched to drive a more sustainable use of resource over the entire lifecycle of products, with the aim of embedding real change. You can view a video of Nicola Jenkin, responsible for the drinks category at WRAP, discussing the opportunities in drinks packaging at: On-pack recycling labels WRAP is also helping retailers and wine brands to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability through on-pack recycling labels, launched in partnership with the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The labels aim to make it easier for consumers to understand which packaging can be recycled and have already been adopted by Hallgarten Druitt ASDA, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury s and Tesco. The scheme is supported by the Wine & Spirits Trade Assocation. Maintaining momentum the next steps A major step change has been achieved with companies around the world turning to bulk importation and lighter weight wine bottles to help reduce their impact on the environment and access associated commercial benefits. Continuing this evolution however is crucial if the sector is to respond to the growing demand for sustainable products and meet the packaging and carbon reduction targets set by the UK and other countries. Go to for further information. The on-pack recycling label scheme enables companies to promote the recyclability of their packaging to their UK customers in a standardised and easy-tounderstand way. This voluntary label offers an opportunity for them to do away with the confusing mix of labels that have been used in the past.

7 GlassRite wine project partners and supporters Retailers Asda, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury s, Tesco, The Co-Operative, Somerfield, Waitrose. Brand owners, merchants & agents Australian Vintage, Backsberg, Bibendum, Bottle Green, Brand Phoenix, Brown Brothers, Brown Foreman, Buckingham Vintners, Calibre Winepack, Concha y Toro, Cordoniu, Constellation Europe, Constellation Wines Aus., D&D Wines Int., Diageo, E&J Gallo Wines, First Cape, Fosters EMEA, Fratelli Martini, Guy Anderson Wines, Ironstone Vineyards, Le Grand Chaise de France, New Zealand Wine Co., Pernod-Ricard, Pernod-Ricard Pacific, PLB Wines, Raisin Social, Sur Andino, Thierry s, Vina Ventisquero, VitaBrevis, Yalumba. Glass manufacturers & brokers AE Chapman, Allied Glass, Amcor (Australia), Ardagh Glass, Cameron Glass, Packaging (USA), Consol Glass (SA), Cristalchile, Cristalenas Toro SA, Nampak (SA), O-I Europe, O-I Asia-Pacific, Quinn Glass, Wiegand-Glas, William Croxson & Son. Fillers Broadland Wineries, Continental Wine & Food, Halewood Int., Indage, Kingsland Wine & Spirits, Lanchester Wine, Cellars, Quinn Glass, Waverley TBS. Logistics Braid Logistics, Full-pak, Hoyer Global Trans., JF Hillebrand, Trans-Ocean Distribution. Associations British Glass, California Sustainable Winegrowers Assoc., Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne, South African Liquor & Brandy Assoc., Wine & Spirits Trade Assoc., Wine Australia, Wines of South Africa, Wines of Spain. Other Glass Technology Services, Oakdene Hollins, Sally Easton MW, WSP Environment & Energy. I congratulate those in our sector who have already signed up to the scheme and would encourage others to do the same in order to help promote the environmental benefits of recyclable packaging. John Corbett-Milward, Head of Technical and International Affairs at the WSTA

8 To find out how you could make significant changes, visit to access a wide range of regularly updated reports, tools, case studies and information sheets. To get involved with WRAP's projects, please contact Tammy Marrett by calling +44 (0) or ing tammy.marrett@wrap.org.uk You can also contact the GlassRite Wine adviser, Mark Richmond by calling +44 (0) or by ing Mark.Richmond@WSPGroup.com While steps have been taken to ensure its accuracy, WRAP cannot accept responsibility or be held liable to any person for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. This material is copyrighted. It may be reproduced free of charge subject to the material being accurate and not used in a misleading context. The source of the material must be identified and the copyright status acknowledged. This material must not be used to endorse or used to suggest WRAP s endorsement of a commercial product or service. For more details, please refer to our Terms & Conditions on our website Waste & Resources Action Programme The Old Academy 21 Horse Fair Banbury, Oxon OX16 0AH Tel: Fax: info@wrap.org.uk Helpline freephone Printed on 75% recycled content paper