GlassRite: Wine

Large-scale demonstration of the viability and opportunities available to the wine industry via bulk importation, lightweighting and glass colour choice

The first phase of GlassRite Wine, a project funded by WRAP and managed by British Glass, has been completed. This groundbreaking wine industry programme, which started in Summer 2006, has shown that bulk importing of wine into the UK and the use of lighter bottles can lead to major environmental and business benefits for the wine industry. Case studies and final reports are available about the trials, including UV light and wine quality, bottle strength and the impact of bulk importing on wine quality and CO₂ emissions.  

More than 10 separate bulk importing and lightweighting initiatives were undertaken during the project, and included major UK retailers such as Asda, The Co-operative Group, Morrisons and Tesco; wine producers and brand owners such as Constellation Europe; glass manufacturers such as Quinn Glass; wine fillers such as Kingsland Wine & Spirits and logistics specialists such as Trans Ocean Distribution.  WRAP has also worked, and continues to work, very closely with the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) who provide invaluable advice and support. 

As a direct result of the initiative:

• CO₂ emission shave been cut by over 28,000 tonnes, equivalent to taking more than 8,500 cars off the road;
• 199 million 75cl glass bottles are now filled with bulk imported wine each year in the UK instead of being bottled at source – an increase of 79 million glass bottles;
• the use of recycled glass has increased by nearly 24,000 tonnes per year, because (as a consequence of more bulk imported wine) more wine bottles are being made in the UK;
• glass packaging has been reduced by 11,400 tonnes per year as a result of wine being bottled in lighter weight bottles; and
• more than 350 different wine label bottles have been lightweighted during the project.

Following on from the success of GlassRite Wine Phase I, WRAP will be building on this momentum by continuing with a second phase of work, running until November 2009. This phase will continue to encourage the increased uptake of bulk importation of wine into the UK, where feasible, and the use of lighter weight wine bottles.  A network of advocates, based in the main wine producing countries, will act as spokespeople for WRAP’s work within the country of origin.  

In addition, the project will:

• develop and trial a sub-300g wine bottle that is both attractive to the wine industry and commercially viable; and
• assess the viability, and trial the production of lighter weight Champagne and sparkling wine bottles.

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