The paper wine bottle

Have you ever seen the like of it? A paper wine bottle? This is the latest innovation from UK firm Greenbottle, who have realised that biodegradable packaging is becoming more and more important, particularly in the UK as landfill space is fast running out.

The packaging, which is compostable and decomposes within weeks, is currently being trialed by supermarket chain Asda who are selling milk in paper bottles alongside the standard plastic bottles. The plastic bottles can take up to 500 years to fully decompose, so the environmental benefits are obvious.

In comparison to the glass bottles used for wine, the paper bottle weighs only 55g compared with 500g for a glass bottle. This would help reduce transport costs. It is estimated the carbon footprint is only 10% of that of a glass bottle. The wine is contained inside an inner bag similar to those used in the bag-in-a-box. Sorry to be devils advocate, but is the inner material considered environmentally friendly? Can it be recycled also?

Advancements are being made in the wine industry where packaging is concern, from lighter weight glass bottles to PET plastic bottles, but this is probably one of the more radical experiments. By nature, the traditional wine consumer doesn’t take to change of this type quite as quickly as they might with their milk bottles. Saying that, it’s another great little innovation that might compliment the popular bag-in-a-box before moving into more premium wines in the future.

News content & picture sourced from The Guardian