British Glass to aid WRAP wine bottle initiative

The project, announced in March this year (see letsrecycle.com story), aims to encourage the bulk importing of wine produced in New World countries like Australia, to be bottled in the UK using recycled green glass.

WRAP wants to create demand for recycled glass encouraging foreign wines to be bottled in the UK

As well as creating demand for waste green glass in this country, the project will aim to produce lightweight bottles in a further bid to reduce waste.

WRAP believes that by lightweighting 75cl wine bottles from 500g to 300g they can save 20,000 tonnes of glass, while convincing an additional 10% of the wine industry to bulk import could save a further 105,000 tonnes.

David Workman, director general of British Glass, says: “The UK glass industry is fully committed to this latest initiative. Lighter bottles ultimately mean less waste as well as making important savings in raw materials and energy use.”

The UK is a major importer of wine, mostly bottles in green glass. However 64% of what it produces is clear glass. WRAP intends to decrease the green glass entering the UK and increase its demand.

Colour change
WRAP also intends to encourage a colour change from green to clear bottles where bulk importing is not feasible and will be announcing trials involving retailers including Asda and Tesco in the next six months.

The trials will aim to understand the barriers associated with colour change. An area of particular interest to WRAP is the perception of quality associated with the colour of a bottle.

Andy Gale, technical manager for Tesco, said: “Tesco is committed to the principles of sustainable waste management – reduce, reuse and recycle. This latest initiative from WRAP is demonstrating how working together, the wine industry can effect practical changes that will significantly reduce our impact on the environment.”

The project will be overseen by a steering group made up of representatives from the wine supply chain. These include Quinn Glass and the Wine and Spirits Trade Association.