NYTimes article about reusable glass bottles got me thinking.
It seems like a pretty questionable solution. Not going to be something that really makes a difference for producers making two barrels of Grand Cru wines per year, seems like something that will only work well if there are drop off points everywhere and will only make a difference if bottles can be cleaned and refilled pretty locally to cut down on shipping footprint. Is this something that will really take off?
I think there is a much better chance of the same wines going into a box and having that be successful than of getting significant buy in around the world of reusable bottles. some areas may do really well (picturing consumers in California or Oregon would just have a pretty easy time returning bottles and having them get reused, but much less likely for a Carolina consumer to do the same).
Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the initiative and some people I really respect (like Diana Snowden-Seyess) are leading the conversation. but im unconvinced this is the future for the wine world.
If there were a reasonable way of doing so without being a job unto itself, I would certainly do so. They already get separated into a recycling bin versus the trash.
I’m pretty doubtful about re-use in any significant capacity. There are so many shapes and sizes even with the bottle families at 750ml that I don’t really see the sorting as feasible. There would have to be some effort to have wineries adopt a standard bottle for this to work. With even geekier wineries using things that are akin to trophy bottles its going to be hard to get this sort of scheme up to a level where it would be even a little bit practical. That’s without the cleaning and label removal considerations.
it seems like there is a conceivable way this would work. take advantage of our three tier system in reverse:
consumer drops used bottles off at retailer, presumably where they bought the bottle.
distributor comes for their weekly drop off to the retailer, picks up the used bottles in turn
importer swaps bottles with distributor or
distributor gets bottles back to producer (or even has a bladder they can refill from??)
one major downside here is it even further would entrench the 3 tier system into our wine ecosystem, which im not a huge fan of (sorry middlemen in our midst)
Where would the bottles go on a local level and how much would it cost to get them where they need to go would be my first thoughts? Yes I recycle my glass, cardboard, etc. but seriously how would the empty bottle be reused and filled with another wine?
thats the part im not positive about. im confident I would get it to the right place, after all, our local area doesnt have glass recycling but we drive two counties over with our bottles to drop them off at a place that does… im hoping returning wouldn’t be that much harder.
but if the bottles still have to go back to a producer to be refilled, I dont know that I see the benefit from a green standpoint. im sure there is a production carbon savings, but thats a lot of extra shipping and cleaning. it would work OK for large production wines, they could ship larger quantities to regional areas for refilling (a statewide distributor, for example), but a small producer this wouldn’t work. thats where it breaks down for me.
My in-laws used to have to drive a distance in South Carolina to recycle and then they moved to Northern MN and had to do the same. Dedication for sure to have to re-cycle when it is not weekly pickup.
For sure there is no benefit to ship these bottles back to any winery and no winery locally (embarrassed we have them in MN) would want a bunch of random shaped bottles to fill with new juice.
I have seem a few bottles already designed for refill. I’d like to see that option mote often. The cork and aging of wine make this not likely for higher end wines, but for daily drinkers why not.
For my homemade wines, we purchased a fleet of 240 swing top bottles and have used those for about 3 years now. Some are now on their second fill, but many still first fill from 2018 vintage. I flipped opened a 2018 Syrah yesterday that was in a really good spot. For relabelling, distribution and tax purposes lots more red tape, but it’s doable.
As a side project, a couple of our employees made, bottled, and sold a batch of Washington State Bordeaux blend wine. They used bottles purchased from a company that cleaned and sorted used bottles. Since this was only the second go around for the bottles, they looked the same as new.
I have no idea if the company that provided the bottles is still in business, but there are other similar ventures around the country.
I’m pretty sure the bottle company was PNW based, and there are hundreds of small wine makers to provide a market.
Incidentally, the wine was made with the assistance of Ben Smith (Cadence) and was excellent.
The cost to the producer to wash the bottles would negate most of the advantage. The equipment to do so is six figures and out of reach of most small or even medium size wineries. If you would co op the cleaning, maybe, but I still see lots of issues with that too. Color, sizes, inventory issues.
Breweries in Belgium reuse other brewery’s bottles all the time. You buy Rochefort and it may come in a Westmalle bottle. If wineries would commit to using the same bottle shape rather than insisting on four or five shapes, it could be done.
I put only if it is convenient, but in reality I would be much more likely to do it if it went to help a local place or small businesses. I don’t mind if it is inconvenient in that case.
I grew up in one of the first deposit law states (Oregon). Glass was typically reused if possible, so you would see multiple styles of labeling in your eight-pack of Coke or Pepsi. My recollection is that the distributors were responsible for taking back the empties, including cans and later plastic bottles. Since the advent of the self-service deposit return kiosks, which crush everything, I think that aspect of the supply chain was retired. I speculate that the large-scale conversion from glass to either plastic or aluminum for the soft drink industry basically reduced the volumes on glass to a point where it was economically a wash to simply crush it and recycle at the lower-level of reuse.
It would be interesting to see the energy comparison of making new bottles from recycled empties versus the label and foil removal plus sanitization process. I expect that modifications to label and foil would emerge if there was a need to refill the bottles.