Global trends toward bulk wine exportation and use of lighter-weight bottles continue to grow has led to a groundbreaking cross-industry project spearheaded by U.K. government-funded Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP, www.wrap.org.uk). WRAP seeks partners from the U.S. that are involved in supplying wine to the U.K. to take part in this new global initiative. The GlassRite Wine project has already achieved considerable cost and environmental benefits across the U.K.
Bulkwine exports from California to the U.K. increased ten-fold between 2003 and 2007, accounting for an estimated 37% of total wine sales in 2007. This trend has enabled growers, bottle manufacturers and fillers, agents, brand owners and retailers to significantly reduce transportation costs, achieve carbon dioxide reductions, and effectively position themselves in the competitive U.K. market. For instance, bulk importation can double the amount of wine shipped in a standard container—reducing carbon dioxide emissions and costs by up to 40%. It also allows the supply chain to specify and use the UK’s widely-available supply of green recycled glass in their bottles.
Participants will be able to draw on invaluable experiences from the first phase of the project, which saw industry leaders in the U.K. market such as the UK’s largest retailer Tesco, along with Constellation Europe and Fosters EMEA, increasing bulk importation and the use of lighter-weight bottles. This pioneering activity has diverted approximately 12,700 tons of glass from the U.K. waste stream due to lightweighting activities. It has also resulted in an additional 80 million glass bottles of wine being filled in the U.K., which in turn has increased the use of recycled glass.
GlassRite Wine goals
The aim of the international GlassRite Wine project is to increase the bulk importation of wine into the U.K. by an additional 85 million bottles of wine per year, and reduce the total glass wine bottle weight by 30,000 tons. Other key project outcomes will include:
• Encouraging the increased use of recycled content in U.K. manufactured glass bottles
• Developing a 300g wine bottle for the wine industry to use
• Investigating the lightweighting of champagne and sparkling wine bottles
Nicola Jenkin, Beverages Category manager at WRAP, comments: "This new project offers companies involved in exporting to the U.K. an excellent opportunity to pull together and benefit from material, supply chain and commercial savings--and respond to U.K. consumer pressure to reduce packaging. The U.S. wine industry has already taken significant steps to reduce environmental impact. Brown-Forman, for instance, is currently lightweighting its entire line of Fezter-branded wines, a move that is set to reduce glass use by 16 percent and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 14 percent. We are now keen to hear from others that are keen to grasp this opportunity and get involved in GlassRite Wine.”
The project’s steering group will be chaired by respected industry expert and commentator, Sally Easton. She says, "The wine industry has been enormously proactive over the past few years exploring ways to reduce the environmental impact of international trading, and wines with an environmental and ethical message are performing increasingly well. This pioneering initiative now offers companies an opportunity to play a part in developing global best practice—pulling together to achieve real change. "
U.S. businesses that are interested in taking part or would like to find out more can contact Jon Taylor at WSP Environmental in San Francisco at 415/904-8470 or via e-mail at [email protected].
More information is available at www.wrap.org.uk/glassrite.
-Rick Lingle
