Supermarkets Reduce Glass in Wine Bottles

06/09/2010 at 12:03 pm · Filed under Food, Green Living, Human Action, Packaging, Political and Corporate Action and tagged: Lightweight, Supermarket, Tesco, Virtue, Waitrose, Wine Bottle

Sources: The National Geographic Summer Edition 2010

Supermarkets are experimenting with using lighter glass bottles for certain wines. The move is being promoted by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and has caused Tesco to  launch ‘the lightest ever wine bottle’. Weighing in at 300g (the average is 500g) the bottle will reduce the company’s annual glass usage by 560 tonnes. Its usage is currently limited to Tesco’s own Australian Red Non-Vintage wines. Waitrose, too, released their own Virtue wines last year. The bottles consist of 60% recycled glass and are lighter than the average bottle. The wine is also shipped in bulk (currently from Chile) with all bottling taking place in the UK. There are certain hurdles that have to be overcome in the future though. Heavy bottles tend to be viewed as being more upmarket and prestigious. Furthermore, much of the wine sold in supermarkets is bottled outside of the UK and tightly controlled by local laws (such as the Appellation d’Origine Controlee).

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