Janet CollinsWine in Plastic – Environmentally Friendly or Cheap Option?
June 29th 2009 08:27
Good things used to come in glass or so the slogan went but most of our drinks manufacturers have turned, or are turning, to plastic – PET plastic that is.
Two Australian winemakers have followed in the footsteps of soft drink manufacturers and and turning to plastic as the container of choice. Wolf Blass and Sirromet Wines cite environmental reasons for the decision claiming plastic bottles produced almost 30 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than glass bottles and are cheaper and safer to recycle.
Bottling wine in plastic in preference to glass was first considered for sale at sporting and other venues where glass was banned. The small glass size bottles for this purpose have been available for some time. Now these two winemakers are taking a further step.
Australian wines have been bottled overseas in PET for some time, the argument again being that bulk wine can be transported to countries such as the UK and then bottled in PET. This, they say, reduces the weight in transportation and thus reduces carbon emissions.
I would imagine this also lowers the production costs of the wine, probably a much more important reason for the winemakers’ decision. Perhaps we will be able to buy the wine at a much cheaper price?
The winemakers have made a gamble however. They are banking on the product moving through retailers rather quickly. Wine in plastic has a shelf life of only twelve months after bottling. So for their sakes, it will have to be a popular option.
Would you buy wine in a plastic bottle or will you stick by the glass one?
Sourced: www.theage.com.au; www.choice.com.au.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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maybe other benefit of plastic bottles would be tackling the "glassing" attacks in pubs, less things to smash and cut people with?
Comment by Aimee Dent
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I also don't believe that plastic chills as nice as glass does.
Aimee
Comment by Janet Collins
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Plastic (or PET!) is clearly more convenient. If you drop a bottle for example you're far less likely to lose it, it is much lighter to carry and as you say there's the glass in pubs thing - although I would think this would apply more to beer.
It just doesn't seem as nice somehow - particularly taking a plastic bottle along to a dinner party.
Thanks.
Comment by Janet Collins
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Good point about chilling. Some habits too are hard to change and I like the bottles more but I think it signals a wider change in the future.
Thanks for dropping in.
Comment by Wilson Pon
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Comment by Janet Collins
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Some wine buffs would say it certainly will but really I don't know that I could tell the difference, particularly as I would normally pour it into a glass anyway. Glass just seems nicer somehow.
Thanks.
Comment by samaritan
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I wonder whether they had the same kind of reaction when soft drink started to come out in plastic bottles. People were just used to glass and didn't think plastic would be as nice. But now, we all drink out of plastic soft drink bottles and think nothing of it. In fact, I think soft drink is nicer out of a plastic bottle.
Maybe it will be the same for wine. It will take a while before people start getting used to it. And for some time, there will probably be a fair few people who will choose the glass bottles over the plastic ones. But in 10 or 20 years' time, maybe we'll all be buying out wine in plastic bottles and thinking nothing of it.
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Comment by Chris Champion
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Comment by Janet Collins
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We all do tend to adapt but there is just something about glass, even if it is inconvenient. It looks as though it is something that we are going to have to put up with whether we like it or not.
Thanks for the comment.
Comment by Janet Collins
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Are you referring to the hole in the cask wine bag? Or maybe you just think your bottle has a hole in it
Comment by Damo
There are a lot more energy consuming steps in producing plastic than there are in making glass. Plastic being a petrochemical has its own environmental issues. Anyway I will leave that for another day.
However I can see the biggest resistance coming in the form of consumer resistance.
Cask wine does not have a reputation of being fine wine. It has the reputation of being Bar-b-q plonk.
I think that the plastic image will effect the sales.
Comment by samaritan
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Comment by Janet Collins
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I have to agree with you. They don't clarify the point about PET being cheaper and safer to recycle. It sounds more like it's cheaper for them to produce and certainly it would be cheaper to ship bulk wine in vats than in bottles.
The technical points you raise I am not qualified to agree with or dispute but I think it is probably more likely that it is cheaper for them to produce overall.
Thanks for dropping in.
Comment by Janet Collins
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You may have a point there but I can't see how the consumer would think this was really more environmentally friendly than using glass. They both are recycleable. The only fact that distinguishes the two is that glass is heavier and that probably makes it easier and cheaper for them rather than the consumer.
Thanks again.
Comment by Lara M
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Comment by Janet Collins
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Thank you.