WRAP plan will cut UK glass imports

David McCormack, Packaging News, 01 October 2006

 

Not-for-profit waste company WRAP has launched an initiative to reduce the amount of glass waste generated by the wine industry by 20,000 tonnes.

 

Working with British Glass, WRAP wants to encourage wine importers, brand owners and retailers to bulk-import wine and then bottle it in lighter glass bottles manufactured in the UK.

 

 

The UK is the world’s largest wine importer, with over one billion litres imported each year from Europe and the New World. Eighty per cent arrives already bottled.

 

According to WRAP, the average weight of a 75cl wine bottle is 500g. But there are bottles imported from France weighing only 300g and WRAP also wants to encourage more lightweighting.

 

“Lighter bottles ultimately mean less waste as well as making important savings in raw materials and energy use,” said David Workman, director general of British Glass.

 

 

Commercial trials involving Asda and Tesco start this month. Each trial will take six months from mould design until the bottles are on supermarket shelves. “Our research shows that an additional 10 per cent switch will mean 55,000 tonnes less glass imported. As well as tonnage benefits, this move will improve the industry’s carbon emissions profile and  reduce business costs,” said Andy Dawe, glass technology manager at WRAP.