Sustainable packaging – a conversation on alternative solutions to glass wine bottles

This May, North South Wines’ Kim Wilson participated in an exclusive webinar with Harpers Wine & Spirits on sustainable packaging. 

Chaired by Harpers Wine & Spirit editor Andrew Catchpole, the focus of the session was on Sustainability of Glass: Consumer perceptions and buying habits.  

As well as Kim, the panel of experts called upon to share their opinions included Sarah Benson, buyer at Co-Op, Jessica Anderson, head of strategic change and governance at Virgin Wines, and Rowena Curlewis, CEO & co-founder of Denomination.

Panellists shared their thoughts and opinions, as Andrew laid out the facts and statistics into sustainable packaging for wine makers. 

The webinar revealed the sobering fact that wine bottles, labels and closures, in addition to their transportation account for a third of total winery emissions, and out of the 1.3 billion bottles of wine sold in the UK alone, the total co2 emissions add up to a staggering 625 million kilos, according to Sustainable Wine Solutions’ calculations.

The purpose of the webinar was to get some knowledgeable wine-heads together and discuss the pros and cons of glass, consumers’ relationship with glass and figure out what lies ahead in terms of packaging – harvesting opinions from the retailer, the buyer and the supplier.

Kim was able to pitch in and offer her unique perspective from a supplier’s point of view. 

“Kim was able to pitch in and offer her unique perspective from a supplier’s point of view, citing glass as currently the safest way to transport and extend the lifespan of wine, and whilst acknowledging that Tetra, PET and Bag in Box delivered in part but not the same extent, they also had a negative impact on the environment”. She noted, too, that nothing has yet been developed that offers the same levels of protection and safety.

From a retailer’s point of view, Sarah put forward her opinion that glass bottles are the most understood packaging format from a customer perspective: it’s uniform, it’s inert and it doesn’t present the challenges of shorter life. 

What about substituting glass wine bottles with other materials? Sarah points out that it’s very easy for customers to understand the recyclability of glass, which has a 70% recycling rate, compared to a mere 6% on plastic. If you switch to a plastic bottle it might have a lower carbon footprint but, in terms of recyclability, it’s probably a poor substitute.

The customer’s viewpoint on packaging

There is also the customer’s viewpoint on the matter. Glass bottles have indeed become a reassurance on the quality of the product. While customer’s perspectives of glass bottles might change if educated, this will require a drastic change in consumer behaviours. 

So, how did the panel respond to this point? When thinking about how heavier glass bottles are normally synonym of high-quality wines, Jessica says:

“For years and years in the trade in every area we’ve been using this as a great marketing tool. And now it’s our downfall really because we’re trying to say well actually you know the bottle weight doesn’t dictate quality, which is complete opposite to what people have been told for years”.

What are the sustainable options available today?

Talking about “sustainable options” per se might be a bit of a stretch, as there currently aren’t any alternatives to wine glasses that are 100% eco-friendly and functional. 

However, during the webinar, a few solutions come to light:

So, what are the key takeaways from the webinar? 

There are multiple valuable alternatives to glass bottles on the market. However, for any change to happen it will require the joint efforts of winemakers – big or small – across the world!

At North South Wines, we are constantly trying to improve ourselves. And it’s these kinds of conversations that might spark the change we need to take a step in the right direction. Kim ended the webinar with: “There’s a lot that we need to do as producers, as shareholders, as distributors and supermarkets – we all need to get together and that’s the only way we’re going to win through.”

There might not be one perfect solution to the sustainability of glass. But by educating consumers and guiding them to a more sensible purchase we can make the future of winemaking a lot brighter.

The webinar covers this and much more and is available to watch on YouTube now. So, whether you’re a wine producer looking to venture on a more sustainable route, or you’re a consumer willing to educate yourself, you will find plenty of helpful answers in the webinar!