An invitation to the wine industry to shift its mindset and embrace reusability
June 27th – At last month’s London Wine Fair, The Porto Protocol and Sustainable Wine Solutions presented the initial findings from the LWF23 Bottle Collection Initiative; the partnership between three entities which saw 20,000 empty bottles collected from the 2023 event, with 1,017 audited for their reuse potential. The findings, which revealed both obstacles and opportunities, have now been published as the Reuse Ready Charter, which includes an open letter calling for industry action from wine producers and glass manufacturers.
The key takeaway from the report is that the bottle of the future is reusable. Reusing a bottle generates: 96% energy savings; 95% CO₂ savings on reuse vs single use; 99% mineral raw material savings; and 60% water savings. The UK is well placed to drive this global call to action as the third largest importer of wine, which bottles 36% in market.
Reuse is still in the developmental stage, and the economic model is fragile due to lack of automation and industrialisation. However, there is significant potential to decrease costs to meet a broader demand. There is a need for bottles to be lighter, durable and designed for multiple uses, whilst not sacrificing on quality, design or aesthetics. Technical differences which are not obvious to the naked eye, can be reduced to move towards standardisation, although this shouldn’t be the only response, as individual design requirements can be integrated into a reusable model. Clarification is still needed on the reusability; whether it is a closed loop (bottles are turned to original source) or open loop which don’t necessitate a return to the origin.
The industry has become increasingly aligned towards reuse initiatives over the last 12 months. Businesses all around the world are already successfully pioneering reuse models, showing that this is possible and eminently doable on a big scale and there is rising demand from wineries for previously used bottles.
The next steps will see the Reuse Ready campaign championed in France in partnership with La Bande Verte, a French non-profit which has a mission to accelerate the decarbonisation of the sector towards a circular economy. The campaign will be seeking an additional partnership with a UK retailer or distributor to trial reuse initiatives ahead of the 2025 London Wine Fair, at which the findings will be shared.
The 2025 London Wine Fair will take place at Olympia from 19th to 21st May.
