Wine's Glass Problem

This piece appeared in the November 2023 issue of Oregon Wine Press. HERE is the link to their online version.

Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mike_mc/

The wine industry’s glass problem is a weighty one.  Literally.

As much as half the carbon expended to produce a bottle of wine is devoted to the glass bottle.  Glass manufacturing requires furnaces running around the clock at over 2800 degrees Fahrenheit.  The empty bottles then travel to a winery for filling. Even before receiving wine, a case of bottles weighs between 12 and 25 pounds or more, depending on their design.  Filling adds more weight, of course, and so the next legs of a bottle’s journey – from winery to wholesaler, from warehouse to retailer – require still more energy.  When emptied, fewer than one in three bottles will be recycled, according to the EPA.  Most empty wine bottles find their way into our nation’s waste stream after a single use.

A glass bottle is by far the preferred, time-tested vessel to protect wine as it ages.  Glass does not impart unwanted qualities to the wine, and the 750ml bottle is a good amount for people to share.  But most wine in the US is consumed within 48 hours of purchase - anywhere from 80% to 95% according to some studies. Producers package their top cuvées in heavier bottles intending that the extra weight will communicate quality to their customers.  According to a recent survey by Morning Consult, however, consumers say they expect food and beverage brands to join them in making efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.

The wine industry’s glass problem is a weighty one.

Across the industry, producers seek solutions.  Premium brands have cautiously embraced alternative packages – like aluminum cans, air-tight cartons, stainless steel kegs, and “bag in a box.”

Some have turned to lighter-weight bottles and “on-shored” their supply chains.  King Estate, Oregon’s second-largest producer, has both replaced their Chinese glass vendor with one in North America and reduced the weight of 72% of the bottles they use.  According to Jenny Ulum, King Estate’s Senior Director of Communications, these two changes cut down the winery’s carbon footprint by 2,448 metric tons a year - an amount equivalent to taking 353 cars driving 20,000 miles a year off the road.

Two emerging efforts here in the Pacific Northwest seek to help solve wine’s glass problem.

REUSE

Revino is a new company that seeks to bring new life to an old idea: reusing glass bottles by cleaning and refilling them.

Early in the 20th century, nearly all beverage bottles were refillable.  Some readers may still remember the systems that served the American dairy and soft drink industries.  Single-use options became cost-effective and popular in the U.S. during the second half of the century.  But returnable bottle systems still operate in many places around the world.

Revino aims to revive the practice for Oregon wine.

Discussions among winemakers, led by Revino founders Keenan O’Hern and Adam Rack, resulted in plans to produce 2.4 million refillable wine bottles and support the necessary infrastructure to retrieve, sanitize and reuse them.

O’Hern and Rack engaged over 70 wine brands in developing an acceptable bottle design durable enough to be used on automated bottling lines and to endure up to 50 refillings. Th word “Refillable,” embossed around the base, makes the bottles easily recognizable.

Wine lovers may return empty bottles to the wine’s producer or through one of the centers run by the Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC), the not-for-profit that operates Oregon’s Bottle Bill.  An Oregon winery’s relationships with its wine club members could also play a role.

Over a dozen Oregon wineries have committed to using the bottles in the 2024 vintage, with many others considering the partnership.

Revino estimates that between 36% and 40% of the state’s wine bottles stay in the state.  That and Oregon’s existing OBRC infrastructure will hopefully lead to a successful end-to-end refillable bottle system.

“We've got this amazing robust redemption system in the state… it’s the best system that we have in the country,” said O’Hern.  “There’s one key piece missing, and that’s the wash part.”

“We don’t throw away our wine glasses every time,” said Rack.  “We wash them.”

RECYCLE

An effort began last June in rural areas of Washington to collect and recycle glass using a “hub and spoke” model.

Inspired by similar initiatives around the country, BIG Recyclers collects glass in two locations (spokes) and aggregates it in one central location (hub).  After about 20 tons accumulate at the hub in Pasco, Wash., the glass is transported to manufacturers in Seattle or Portland to make new bottles.  A partnership with the Glass Packaging Institute, an industry trade association, expedites this final transfer.

About 3500 pounds of glass come in each week - totaling approximately 80,000 pounds since the program began, according to BIG Recyclers’ founder Chris Lueck.

Participants pay a small fee to drop off their glass and they rinse out the bottles beforehand.  The fee ensures the program's financial sustainability, and supplying dependably clean glass streamlines the recycling process.

The two existing spokes are located in Walla Walla and in Benton City, Wash. More spokes are being planned.

The Walla Walla Valley contains 138 tasting rooms and shares an AVA with Oregon.  So far, 50 of those tasting rooms participate, along with 80 residents of the area.  After retiring from a career as a wine buyer for a small grocery store chain, Lueck moved to Walla Walla where he had often visited on buying trips.   He quickly recognized the need to do something with the area’s used wine bottles.  “During the height of the season, that's close to four and a half tons every week of just wine bottles going into landfill,” he said.

Further west in Benton City, Hedges Family Estates houses the second spoke.  “We just really wanted to do anything we could to help get this program off the ground,” said Karla Riccobuono, Hedges’ Director of Hospitality. “So that's why we volunteered our space.”

BIG Recycling seeks to get the word out to the other wineries in the Red Mountain AVA and to build participation among area residents.

Glass recycling has been a long-standing goal among the area’s wineries, according to Riccobuono.  “It just really sets with our mentality and our belief in sustainability.”