How many different types of wine bottle are actually in use? What prevents a bottle from being reused? This is the million-dollar question that a three-way partnership between The Porto Protocol, London Wine Fair and Sustainable Wine Solutions (SWS) hopes to answer. The LWF23 Bottle Collection Initiative, the first edition of a yearly initiative, will categorise all waste bottles collected at the show according to bottle type, label and country. A post-event report, which will be the most comprehensive research into wine bottle reuse to date, will be published based on these results and help catalyse reuse bottle schemes by showing the number of bottle types in use; how many were reusable; and if they were not reusable, identify why.
The Porto Protocol, whose mission is to accelerate climate action in the wine world, jointly with SWS - the UK experts in wine bottle return - challenged LWF to platform this initiative. Although there are many instances when the bottle could be replaced by alternative formats, the glass bottle will still be around for years to come. However, the manufacturing of bottles is the single biggest contributor to carbon emissions within the wine industry.
An estimated 30,000 bottles (based on the number of the exhibitors, Bottlebooks data on the number of wines exhibitors upload and the number of bottles we recommend exhibitors provide per wine) will be collected during the three days of The Fair, which will generate significant data. Using the LWF waste as its benchmark, the report aims to bring awareness to the challenges facing the reuse supply chain and to measure progress year on year.
Recycling is no longer the preferred option for glass bottles going forward. In the UK alone there is a 70% recycling rate, meaning 30% of wine bottles end up in landfill. Several of Europe’s leading wine producing countries have already passed laws and initiated measures to encourage and enforce bottle reuse [please see Notes to Editors for more detail]. And it is expected that other countries will follow suit, so it is vital that producers understand how to manage this globally. Furthermore, resource scarcity and rising inflation since the start of the War in Ukraine, is putting significant pressure on producers. Within this context, reusing bottles makes financial sense and is an additional catalyst to environmental concerns.
Head of London Wine Fair, Hannah Tovey, commented: “Sustainability is the central theme for this year’s show and we are delighted to be platforming so many discussions, tastings and launches with a green agenda. The LWF23 Bottle Collection initiative takes this to another level, creating a practical solution for the circular economy. We are delighted to be the launch pad and look forward to seeing the resulting report and a roll out of the scheme to subsequent events around the world.”
Adrian Bridge, CEO, The Porto Protocol, commented: “This is a pioneering initiative that demonstrates the leadership role that the wine industry is taking on climate change issues. At the Porto Protocol we highlight the initiatives that members are involved in with the aim of raising awareness and promoting change through providing case studies of solutions that work. The fact that legislation regarding packaging is being implemented and that the time frames are short – most government targets are 2030 – it is time to think hard about what the wine industry is doing and can do.”
Muriel Chatel, Managing Director, SWS, commented: “We believe that all bottles should be reusable, but if we want to bring change it is important to know what we are dealing with. How many bottles are actually in use? No one knows. We are hoping that by gathering and sharing data from one of the biggest wine fairs in the world, will spring the industry from ambition into action and head down the road to standardisation.”
The Porto Protocol will be on stand DZ14, within The Discovery Zone. They will host “The Climate Bottle of the Future is Reusable” seminar on the Centre Stage, Wednesday, 17th May at midday.
