Packaging our Wine

Glass bottles dominate wine packaging, making up 97% of all wine containers used. Bibendum faces the challenge of sourcing durable lightweight bottles, increasing recycled glass content and finding alternative packaging materials which do not detract from the consumer's perception of quality.

Bibendum is a member of the GlassRite Wine Steering Committee. GlassRite is a project supported by the governmental recycling advocate Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) working with industry partners to encourage the use of lighter weight glass wine bottles in the UK and at source, and to increase the use of recycled content in green glass bottles manufactured in the UK by promoting the bulk importation of wine into the UK.

Why bottle in the UK?

• 60,000 tonnes of glass bottles are thrown out from pubs, clubs, hotels, restaurants and cafes every year. Up to 75% of this is sent to landfill sites.
• The UK predominantely manafacture and use clear and amber glass. This has led to a surplus of green glass.predominantly from wine bottles.
• The UK uses about 1 million tonnes of green glass each year, of which about is 60% imported.
• Bottling in the UK and using recycled green glass uses up glass that would otherwise have gone to landfill or been exported. All the green bottles Bibendum uses for UK bottling contain at least 85% recycled glass.

Why use lightweight glass?

• The average weight of a wine bottle is 500g but it can vary from a feather weight 300g to a hefty 900g..
• Heavy bottles do not guarantee good wine! Research shows that just 13% of people believed that lighter bottles mean cheaper wines.
• The majority of UK consumers remain traditional when it comes to wine packaging, preferring glass to other forms of packaging.
• Switching to lighter weight wine bottles cuts the amount of raw materials required and reduces the amount of glass entering the waste stream.

How Bibendum has reduced the amount of glass entering the waste stream

Bibendum imports around 18% of its wine in bulk for bottling in the UK. In July 2008 Bibendum moved all UK bottled wines to the lightweight 356g bottle (a reduction in glass of 23%). The bottles underwent rigorous tests to ensure durability and a standard shape and size has been maintained. All back labels clearly state to the consumer that the wine is bottled in lightweight glass.

• Green bottles used for UK bottling have a minimum of 85% recycled glass content and clear bottles 35%.
• Reducing bottle weight of these wines not only saves 195 tonnes of glass every year, it also reduces CO2 emissions by 621 tonnes (equivalent to taking 196 cars off the road) by reducing packaging and transportation

Lightweight glass at source

Some of our producers have also started to use lightweight glass for wines bottled at source. Not only does this have the benefit of reduced glass use and associated carbon emissions but it also reduces carbon emissions from transportation.