Case Study: UK Drinks Sector Resource efficiency in UK wine production Minimising water, material and packaging use in the wine sector.
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 2 WRAP s vision is a world without waste, where resources are used sustainably. We work with businesses, individuals and communities to help them reap the benefits of reducing waste, developing sustainable products and using resources in an efficient way. Find out more at www.wrap.org.uk Front cover photography: Wine bottles While we have tried to make sure this is accurate, we cannot accept responsibility or be held legally responsible for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. This material is copyrighted. You can copy it free of charge as long as the material is accurate and not used in a misleading context. You must identify the source of the material and acknowledge our copyright. You must not use material to endorse or suggest we have endorsed a commercial product or service. For more details please see our terms and conditions on our website at www.wrap.org.uk
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 3 Contents Contents... 3 Research Summary... 4 Organic resource... 4 Product loss avoidance... 6 Packaging... 7 Water use... 8 Clean in Place (CIP)... 9 Waste water... 10 Conclusions... 11
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 4 Research Summary Wine production in the UK is a very small but growing sector, with over 3.1 million bottles (of all sizes) produced in 2009 1. This review focuses on the UK production of wine, but also incorporates the 1.2 billion litres of bulk wine imported to the UK for bottling (equivalent to 1.6 billion bottles) 2. The Resource Map for wine shown at the end of this review, identifies the key inputs for different production stages and the waste and loss streams that result. Key opportunities to improve resource efficiency from the winery to the back of store are outlined. Key opportunities: 634 tonnes of glass can be conserved by using lighter bottles in line with industry best practice Large variations in water use between wineries could be addressed by better metering supported by a sector-wide benchmarking service Addressing productions losses which average 3.5% Organic resource Over 100 wineries are located in the UK 3, most of which are attached to vineyards. Yield from vineyards varies depending on numerous factors, two key elements being grape variety and ripeness. According to industry interviews, yield usually ranges from around 50-60%, but some wineries achieve 70% - resulting in lower volumes of marc (the solid grape remains following pressing) produced per litre of wine. For the 23,835 hectolitres of wine produced in the UK in 2009 4, approximately 5,000 tonnes of grapes were consumed, resulting in 1 English Wine Producers, Production Statistics 2010 2 WRAP (2008) GlassRite Phase 2 3 English Wine Producers English Wine Production Statistics Available from http://www.englishwine producers.com/stats.htm Accessed 20/05/11 4 English Wine Producers, Production Statistics 2010 note: wine produced in the UK excluding British wine, and bulk import
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 5 2,000 tonnes of marc 5. Marc, a by-product, is typically disposed of on the vineyard, though does not add much value to the soil. An opportunity to improve the value of marc exists in controlled composting, or with possible use in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors 6. Volumes of marc arising within UK wineries are relatively small and as a stand-alone feedstock, little value is seen in the use of anaerobic digestion (AD). However, where a site has organic arisings from other activities, for example, food waste from a restaurant or hotel on-site, or where third party facilities could be utilised, then AD may be an option. Image 1: Wine bottles 5 UKVA online sustainable wine survey, 2011 6 Research from Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, 2011, as reported in Area del Vino Available at: http://www.winesur.com/news/wine-wastes-for-the-pharmaceuticalindustry
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 6 Product loss avoidance Two key factors which can be associated with the processing losses from wine are: Losses from the filtration process. For wine this can vary between 0.5% and 3% 7 ; and Residue from flexitanks used for bulk importing. This is typically less than 0.5% 8. Filtration losses of UK produced wine plus the residue losses on flexitanks of wine imported to the UK can be up to 3.5% 9 giving rise to a product loss of 1.1 million litres. To ensure that the appropriate filtration technology is being used it is recommended that a review of the existing system be undertaken, in terms of: clarification quality; filtration throughput; clogging of filter surfaces; and yield loss ( ). Once reviewed, a benchmarking exercise can be undertaken to compare the performance of the current system with alternative filtration systems. This will include a cost benefit analysis to establish whether the capital costs associated with the investment in a new system can be offset against the reduction in yield losses. Flexitank losses of 0.5% can be considered a major advancement in terms of waste prevention since it is reported that an estimated 5% of raw material is wasted in traditional packaging formats 10, e.g. 200kg metal drums. It is however a significant volume in the context of losses through bulk importation and it is important to monitor the yield from the flexitanks to minimise product losses as far as possible. 7 www.winetech.us/4ep 8 www.myflexitank.com/support.html 9 WRAP (2011) Product losses in the UK drinks sector 10 Personal communication with David Thornton of IBC manufacturer UCON
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 7 Image 2: Wine bottling line Packaging Typical packaging for wine is 75cl glass bottles, though other sizes are also available. Some bulk importation wine is also packaged in bags (bag-in-box) with a liner bag of metallised or ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) based plastic and an outer cardboard box. A very small market is also available for PET packaging for events, airline services and other niche areas. The wine sector has made significant advances in lightweighting, with bottles available from 300g, in comparison to the average of 500g in 2006 11. Bulk wine importation is associated with low impact packaging, but UK manufactured wine still appeared to be sourcing bottles from the higher end of the weight range. 3.17 million bottles of wine were manufactured in the UK and bottled in 2009 12. If all bottles were light-weighted to best practice weights, a total of 634 tonnes of glass can be conserved. Although this is small for the wine sector in total, it is an important area for small manufacturers. 11 WRAP (2008) Delivering Wine Bottle Optimisation and Increased Bulk Importation 12 English Wine Producers, Production Statistics 2010
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 8 One of the key barriers found to good practice in packaging was the perception that, as small-scale producers, little was achievable through innovation. However, several small manufacturers were achieving good practice, with an example of innovative pallet design (with removed corners, stabilising pallet structure and minimising product loss from breakage), apparent at one winery. Several manufacturers stated that one way packaging (cardboard) was the only option when sourcing materials from overseas, but this appears not always to be the case as the study found the use of returnable pallets for bottles received from France. Water use Typical water use in wine production is currently 3.29 13 l/litre of product, though limited data is available for UK wineries. UK production is typically fairly small and survey evidence 14 suggests that far higher consumption of water is apparent at many small wineries reaching up to 46l/litre of product. These high figures of water use include domestic water. Making allowances for domestic consumption it is estimated that water use at wineries is in the range 1.5-14.8l/litre. Little in the way of technical advancement was seen in the equipment used primarily because of the small scale of production. Typically only a single meter for water in, and another for water out, was seen for the whole site including vineyard, domestic and processing. This made evaluation of water use difficult and addressing this would be a first recommendation for the sector. Capital investment is limited and this is considered one of the largest barriers, with return on metering perceived to be small. Meters are varied in style and method of measurement, and can range significantly in cost. Mechanical meters can provide fairly a high level of accuracy without the costs associated with electromagnetic or ultrasonic 13 Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable. Water use benchmarking in the beverage industry. Trends and observations, 2010 14 UKVA online sustainable wine survey, 2011
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 9 systems, and are suitable for small wineries to help gain an understanding of where on-site high water consumption is in place and can be targeted for improvement. As well as monitoring water use, creating a water management system is critical. This should incorporate targets and continual improvement. Water consumption and wastewater creation should be reviewed and minimised, as well as treatment of wastewater, to maximise its value. Image 3: Wine bottles Clean in Place (CIP) Manual washing of tanks was found to be in place even at some of the larger wineries using a significant volume of water. However, automated CIP is not necessarily suitable for all wineries, as the scale of production can see little return on investment, even with water savings realised. Some low cost CIP considerations are listed below: optimising plant process design; incorporating the internal recycling of water and chemicals; carefully setting operating programmes, which coincide with the real cleaning requirements of the process; minimising detergent loss to drain; and using water-efficient spray devices. If production is very low scale, and investment in automated CIP is not feasible, there are low cost water conservation practices which can be carried out:
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 10 ensure all staff are made aware of water conservation policies including ample signage at taps and hose points etc.; minimise use of hoses for cleaning, opting for high pressure, low volume spray systems; remove product and gross soiling prior to cleaning; and install automatic shut-off valves to reduce incidents of water needlessly running unattended. Waste water Respondents to an online survey 15 carried out on behalf of the United Kingdom Vineyards Association (UKVA) suggests that many UK wineries dispose of suitable wastewater to private soakaways, with minimal organic recovery or treatment. This offers a relatively simple, low impact disposal, but does not maximise value obtained from the effluent. Volumes of wastewater within UK wineries are typically too small to justify development of onsite treatment. Potential opportunities exist if the wastewater can be combined with agricultural, or other organic waste arisings, or if the winery partnered with organisations in the vicinity to secure greater quantities of feedstock that are suitable for treatment through AD. Water efficiencies within the winery will increase the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the wastewater, as less dilution will occur, offering greater value for recovery, but it is also worth considering separating off high COD streams (such as those from removing residual marc etc). 15 UKVA online sustainable wine survey, 2011
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 11 Conclusions There are several focal points for maximising resource efficiency within the wine sector in the UK and these are listed below. Improve monitoring. There was little in-depth understanding of water and material consumption onsite at many sites visited, and initial metering and improved record keeping is considered a necessary first step to help assess areas of opportunity. Develop an environmental management system, including water use. Once consumption and efficiency in processing is well monitored, realistic targets for improvement need to be set and reviewed. All staff employed at the site should have the system explained to them, and be encouraged to actively input ideas and feedback. Improved cleaning practices. Ensure staff are trained and aware of conservation practices, including minimising use of hoses and needless water use. Effective wastewater management. Consider means of optimising recovery of organic outputs, including separating effluent to recover high COD streams. Maximise value of organic by-product. Review value gained from marc. Product loss avoidance. Focus on reducing product loss through improved filtration. Optimise packaging. Adopting industry best standards in bottle weights particularly by small producers could save 634 tonnes of glass
Resource efficiency in UK wine production 12
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