Soon, the first paper wine bottle will be released in the UK. That’s right, a paper wine bottle. The carbon footprint of a paper wine bottle is only 10% of a glass wine bottle, hence the appeal.
With the UK poised to run out of space for landfill within seven years, the bottle’s makers claim biodegradable packaging will become a paramount issue for both consumers and manufacturers. The paper wine bottle is compostable and decomposes in weeks. The wine bottles feature a similar bag to that found in wine boxes so the wine can keep longer.
Transportation costs of the paper wine bottle will also be greatly reduced. The paper wine bottle weighs only 55g compared with 500g for a glass wine bottle.
While paper wine bottles sound great in theory, there will be huge challenges. Venturing into the wine market is more adventurous. “How wine looks is incredibly important; it’s such an arcane business,” said Adam Lechmere, news editor at Decanter magazine. “Consumers don’t care so much about whether wine is green or not.”
Stay tuned to see if this form of wine packaging catches on.
