The environmental issues around the packaging that wine is delivered in has been in the spotlight with the announcement of two new initiatives for wine bottles.
Australian winemaker Wolf Blass has unveiled its plans to sell two of its wines in new plastic PET bottles that it says will have less impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than glass bottles.
At a Sydney launch of the new innovation Wolf Blass global brand director, Oliver Pratt, said its new Green Label bottles produced 29 per cent less over its life cycle compared to a 750ml glass wine bottle.
The bottles are also 36 per cent lighter in weight which delivered savings on greenhouse gas emissions generated during production and transport.
The Foster’s-owned wine maker is offering two wines—a dry white and a cabernet shiraz which were specially developed to be packaged in the PET bottles which have a shelf life of 12 months. They are both fruit forward wines ready to drink on release.
Wolf Blass employed a sustainability consultancy to assess emissions generated by its Green Label products across all phases of production, from grape growing, winemaking, wine packaging and bottling, product use, disposal and recycling.
The technology has also been able to deliver a very clear bottle that also delivers on the aesthetic side of the service of wine with the product looking similar in clarity to a traditional glass bottle.
Pratt said the new packaging offered advantages for the hospitality industry because of its lightness and the fact that it is 100 per cent shatterproof.
“It is perfect for events and in other situations because there’s no risk of broken glass,” he said.
Wolf Blass’ move follows the launch earlier this by Queensland winery Sirromet which released its new range of First Step wine in a 750ml PET plastic bottle in January.
At the same time glass container manufacturer, O-I, also launched its new lighter weight and more environmentally friendly wine bottles, known as the Lean and Green range, at its Adelaide plant.
O-I invested A$3.5m in equipment and trials to reduce the weight of selected wine bottles by up to 28 per cent and says there could be further weight reductions in the future.
The company says that based on current French Green production levels, the new designs will save almost 20,000t of glass packaging a year. It says it has the capacity to produce the same number of bottles using 20 per cent less energy; save more than 11,130t of carbon dioxide each year.
