Glass bottles reuse in southern Europe wine sector

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

While the recycling of packaging waste has increased in the EU overall in recent years, the situation varies significantly between Member States, with some countries, such as Spain, recycling less than a third of their packaging waste. A large part of this waste stream is still being disposed in landfills and waste incinerators, causing significant emissions of greenhouse gases and toxic gases.

In Catalonia, glass beverage waste, notably wine and Cava bottles, is an area of particular concern. The region produces 180 million wine bottles and 200 million Cava bottles annually, but only 57% of these bottles are recycled, with the rest, some 63.3 million bottles, sent to landfill.

 

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of LIFE-reWINE project was to design and implement a pilot system to boost bottle re-use in the wine sector of Catalonia. The project aimed to demonstrate that re-use is environmentally and economically feasible, and preferable to current management alternatives.

 

Specifically, the project aimed to:

• Carry out studies on stakeholders engaged in wine bottle production and consumption (wineries, household waste recycling centres (HWRC), restaurants, and food and wine retailers) and the potential for wine bottle re-use in Catalonia;

• Develop a re-use system for wine bottles in Catalonia comprising: a collection network for used bottles from municipal HWRC, restaurants, food stores and wineries; a cleaning process for used wine bottles, which will be less energy-intensive and consume less water and chemicals (thus generating less wastewater) than current techniques; and a labelling system for re-used bottles, using a water-soluble label;
• Develop an incentive system to foster the use and return of (re)used bottles comprising a discount on the municipal waste tax based on the amount of waste sent to HWRCs – along with incentives for consumers, such as a free bottle of wine on return of 20 empty bottles to stores; and

• Carry out a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) on the proposed system.

 

The project also planned to implement a series of communication and awareness-raising actions to foster waste prevention and to promote the use of the LIFE-reWINE system. The project system would be highly replicable and make a direct contribution to the implementation of the EU legislation and policy on waste, especially the Waste Framework Directive and its objective of recycling and re-using 50% by weight of household glass waste by 2020.

 

RESULTS

The LIFE-reWINE project designed and implemented a pilot project for glass bottle re-use in the wine sector of Catalonia. The pilot phase ran for around 20 months, engaging seven wineries, two wholesalers, 54 restaurants, 32 shops, three supermarket chains and three municipal household waste recycling centres. Around 502 000 bottles were put on the market. At the end of the pilot phase, 148 524 bottles were sold, from which 82 239 were recovered. The aim of recovering 10% of the wine bottles placed on the market was therefore achieved, resulting in the prevention of around 34 tonnes of glass waste with an emission saving of 171 057 Kg of CO₂ after eight re-uses.

The project also yielded important water savings. Comparing the water used for the production of a new bottle and the water used for washing shows that the project resulted in water savings of 42.4 m³ for the total amount of bottles recovered at the end of the project. It was calculated that 0.26 Kg CO₂ eq were saved per bottle and per washing cycle, corresponding to a 28% saving compared to the use of a new bottle.

The pilot was monitored and the technical, environmental and economic feasibility of the re-use system was assessed taking into account five different scenarios combining different sized wineries, logistics and consumption channels. In all case studies, the return system produced environmental benefits. These benefits vary depending on the distance between the wineries and washing facilities, and the number of washings required to ensure that the bottle is ready for a new use.

The project also demonstrated that the bottle re-use system can provide social and economic benefits to wineries and municipalities and job creation opportunities. Jobs could be created in several sectors, such as industry of washing plants, logistics (collection, transport and storing of empty wine bottles from restaurants and grocery stores), retail sector (handling of bottles returned to point of sale and storing in warehouse) and municipal waste collection centres (handling of bottles returned). Considering the regional market, it was estimated that the recycling system for the wine sector creates 37 jobs, while the implementation of a re-use system would create around six to nine additional jobs.

Furthermore, the main barriers and opportunities for the implementation of a wine bottle re-use system in Catalonia have been identified and a replication strategy, based on the project experience has been drafted and potential areas for replication at national, European and international level have been identified. Associated beneficiary Bodegas Torres is collaborating with the Spanish Wine Federation to carry out a similar project on a national scale.

Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).