UK Supermarket Sainsbury's to Sell Wine In PET Plastic Bottles

A major supermarket chain in the UK will offer wine sold in recyclable #1 plastic PET bottles instead of glass as part of a trial.

Sainsbury`s said the move would cut the weight of wine packaging which in turn reduces carbon emissions.  A plastic bottle is one-eighth the weight of a regular 400g (14oz) glass bottle.

Sainsbury's will initially sell its own label New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and an Australian rose in the plastic bottles.

The move follows the introduction of PET bottles by Wolf Blass, one of Australia's biggest exporters of wine.  Its plastic bottles of wine went on sale in Canada last year and will be available in Britain in August.

The idea of using PET bottles for wine has some practical merit besides its reduced weight.  The plastic bottles are less likely to break and easier to carry and transport compared to glass versions.

Barry Dick, product technologist for beers, wines and spirits at the chain, said: "The new wine bottle looks exactly the same as a glass bottle, holds the same amount of liquid and doesn't compromise the quality of the wine in any way."

UK consumers buy around one billion bottles of wine every year, using around half-a-million tonnes of glass. Reducing the weight of wine packaging to 54g (2oz) by using plastic bottles could reduce carbon emissions by around 90,000 tonnes, according to the government-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap), which is involved in the trial.

Comments

[john]

Wine in the Uk is interesting. A very significant quantity of wines are now tankered into the UK by road or sea and then bottle in the UK -- although this is a great environmental story in fact the real reason is cost. Like most packaging any decent company is driven by cost. No-one wants to spend more than they need or want to get a bad reputation - unfortunately, packaging is such an easy target
regards
J

[john]

Wine in the Uk is interesting. A very significant quantity of wines are now tankered into the UK by road or sea and then bottle in the UK -- although this is a great environmental story in fact the real reason is cost. Like most packaging any decent company is driven by cost. No-one wants to spend more than they need or want to get a bad reputation - unfortunately, packaging is such an easy target
regards
J