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A Technical Guide for Wine Producers
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A CLEAN AND GREEN WINE INDUSTRY
The influence of packaging materials on a cellar's carbon footprint
As a result of the carbon processing of vines during the photosynthesis process, the formation of carbon and other hothouse gases in the course of viticultural and cellar practices is largely neutralised, but the production of packaging material and the transportation of packaged wine play a significant role in the release of hothouse gases and therefore the carbon footprint of cellars that sell packaged liquor. Aspects such as the type of container, the recyclability thereof and distance to the markets are aspects that deserve critical evaluation.
In recent years several wine countries have formulated different objectives with regard to the reduction of hothouse gas emissions. For these to be quantified, an evaluation is done of, inter alia, the production of packaging material, the transportation thereof to cellars and the transportation of the packaged products. The British retail group, TESCO, decided as long ago as 2007 that products sold by them should have carbon gradings on the labels.
Transportation during the various stages of the wine production and marketing chain has the biggest impact on the carbon footprint of cellars. This starts with the delivery of production means to the primary producer, vinification aids, barrels and packaging material to the cellar and eventually shipping to the final consumer. All aspects that come into play should therefore be reconsidered. The geographical location of the markets is a given that cannot actually be managed, unlike the means of transport, the mass to be transported and the recyclability of material. Obviously air transport should not be used at all and some French wineries even make use of sailships to transport their product to the United Kingdom. With regard to the shipping mass, export of bulk wine for bottling closer to the consumer is an option, so much so that this is no longer determined by the bottling and packaging cost of the locality only. The bottle type being used may have a huge impact on mass. The mass of a glass bottle may range from 400 to 1 200 grams and as a result of the consumer’s unfounded belief that better wine is sold in heavy bottles, the average mass of wine bottles sold in the USA has increased by 6% over the past ten years. As a result of the lower melting temperature of recycled glass compared to the basic building blocks of glass, the energy saving is 2 to 3% if 10% recycled glass is used in the production process.
Most packaging material can be recycled, but this does not necessarily happen. The United Kingdom is the biggest wine importer, but has a problem with the recycling of green wine bottles, as the local requirement for this type of bottle is limited and mainly clear ("flint") bottles are used to export spirits. Despite the high recycling potential of glass, it has the lowest recycling percentage (25%) in the USA compared to metal containers (cans), 63% of which is recycled. The recycling potential of container metal is therefore not the determining factor, rather whether the consumer has easy access to the recycling facility and indeed makes use of it. Corrugated carton is one of the most recyclable packaging materials, but the two layers on either side of it in a bottle carton are usually not made of recyclable carton due to colour and printing preferences. The more environmentally friendly option for wine labels is applicable to the paper and printer’s ink being used. In the case of the paper fully recyclable paper is preferable, or paper made from fibre such as kenaf or hemp. The ink used for labels or other printed matter has to be discussed with the printer. Some inks contain unacceptably heavy metal qualities or petroleum based solvents and the general preference is for agribased ink, such as soya based products. The better paper and ink alternatives are not always compliant with the requirements for potential label damage during transportation or chilling in cool buckets. In 2007 the well-known Portuguese cork company, Amorim, implemented a programme for the recycling of natural wine and sparkling wine corks which are then used after processing for other cork products such as floor surfaces (Rieger, 2008).
Alternative containers for the packaging of wine are used not only for environmentally friendly purposes, but also have certain marketing pros and cons. Different containers were evaluated in Australia in a survey of supplier and consumer opinions. A summary of the results is indicated in Table 1 (Logan, 2008). Several well-known Australian brands are already using these alternative containers. For more details visit the website www.winebiz.co.au.
Table 1 (Click image to enlarge)
Logan, Sonya. 2008. Comparing the glass alternatives. Wine Industry Journal 23(1): 40 - 53. |
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