GlassRite: Wine - Project Progress
This project is a large-scale demonstration of the viability and opportunities available to the wine industry via bulk importation, lightweighting and glass colour choice. The project will be completed at the end of March 2008.
Through lightweighting your wine bottles or bulk importation this project can help you deliver:
- reduced transportation costs
- less raw materials
- carbon reductions
- cost reductions
- meeting customer expectations.
Read on to find out how other businesses are realising these benefits.
Current Activity
Broadland Wineries to launch lighter weight bottle for sparkling wine in the UK
Broadland Wineries have introduced a lighter bottle for their sparkling wine. The new 75cl bottles now weigh 400g, down from 480g and represent significant environmental benefits for the winery, its clients and consumers. The new bottles will first be used on Broadland’s own brand drinks with annual volumes starting at around 1 million bottles.
Commenting on the launch, Broadland’s CEO, Mark Lansley, said: “Broadlands has made significant progress on lightweighting bottles for sparkling wine – balancing environmental efficiency with technical and quality performance and consumer expectation. It is a significant technical challenge for our industry to reduce weights so significantly, and we are grateful to the hard work from our glass supplier A.E. Chapman”
Kingsland Wines & Spirits
Tesco's latest rightweighted bottles, manufactured by Quinn Glass and filled by Kingsland Wine & Spirits are now on the shelf. The Balance and Four Crossing Wine bottles have both been reduced by 13% from 461g to 400g, while the Boulders Wine bottle has been reduced the most by 25% going from 650g to 484g. These new bottles will save over 2,500 tonnes of glass packaging per year, with 1,700 tonnes of CO2 savings. |  |
 |
|
Already the largest retail bulk importer of wine Tesco are now further reducing the products environmental impact by transporting the containers of bulk wine from the port of Liverpool via the Manchester ship canal by barge to Kingsland for filling. This will save over 50 lorry movements per week.
Viña Ventisquero rightweight in Chile for the UK market
Viña Ventisquero, a winery in Chile, has rightweighted the packaging for its 6 strong Clásico range of wines by 10%, targeted at the UK on and off-Trade.
At 412g, the new bottles weigh 45g less than their predecessors and are the winery’s latest step towards improving its carbon footprint. Ventisquero’s Américo Hernández explains, “Clásico is the first range to be packaged in rightweight bottles, but we’re ultimately looking to do this for our entire portfolio. We’re committed to becoming as environmentally friendly as possible.”
This move is particularly significant since it is one of the first times an overseas producer has rightweighted at source for the UK market, despite the long distances involved.
Constellation Europe
The collaborative venture between brand owner Constellation Europe and bottle manufacturer Quinn Glass is now yielding savings. The original 495g bottles have been re-engineered and are now being produced 14% lighter at 425g. With sales of 55 million units the 70g saving per bottle will translate into an annual glass reduction of approximately 4,000 tonnes.
Major increase in bulk importing
The latest figures from UK wine fillers taking part in the project indicate the number of 75cl bottles filled with bulk imported wine increased by 54% for the year ending June 2007 versus the previous year. This has led to an extra 20,000 tonnes of lightweighted glass bottles being produced in the UK, which have in-turn led to the consumption of an additional 14,000 tonnes of cullet.
Bulk importation of wine into, and bottling it in, the UK has the additional benefit of allowing the supply chain to consider implementing "closed loop" recycling. For example, a retailer can bulk import wine into the UK, the packer filler can use UK manufactured wine bottles which the retailer will sell to UK consumers. The consumer can then return these wine bottles back to the store at front of store recycling facilities. This glass collected for recycling can then be returned to the manufacturers to be used as cullet in new bottles.
Research
Wine quality – the potential impact of bulk shipping
This research, which is currently being finalised for publishing in Spring 2008, is looking at the impact on the quality of wine bulk imported into the UK. It concludes that shipping in a bulk format brings several advantages including:
·
Commercial advantages
- Reduced transportation costs.
- Extended product shelf life.
- Greater flexibility to change packaging formats.
- Less damage to packaging.
- No reduction in product quality.
·
Environmental advantages
- Reduced carbon footprint.
- Benefits to the UK’s recycling capacities.
Consumer perception research
The University of Wales, Bangor, have begun the consumer perception research to assess bottle weight and shape in relation to wine quality and value. This research which may be of great interest to the wine sector will be made complete in March 2008.
