Chris Boiling answers key questions for the industry around convenience, cost and product quality, while minimising environmental impact

For much of the past decade, sustainable packaging has been presented as the drinks industry’s clearest environmental win. Lightweight bottles, recycled glass, aluminium cans and paper formats have become highly visible symbols of progress: marketable signs of innovation and evidence of climate responsibility.
But scratch the surface and you quickly realise there is no one-size-fits-all solution. For the off-trade sector, it’s worth weighing up the options carefully.

What’s wrong with glass?

The glass bottle has long been the default package for wine, spirits and premium beer.

It’s “the reference standard”, according to Fernando Lázaro, director of sustainability at wine producer Abadía Retuerta in Spain’s Ribera del Duero region. “The inert nature, durability and circularity of the glass bottle ensures the integrity of the wine over time, which is essential when working with products that embody origin, craftsmanship and ageing potential.”

But multiple lifecycle assessments (LCAs) have found that the production and transport of glass bottles is the single largest contributor to the wine industry’s carbon footprint, largely because glass is energy intensive to manufacture and recycle, and heavy to transport.

Can glass remain the benchmark packaging?

Jackson Family Wines, a leader in sustainable winemaking practices, has trialled many alternative formats but, says Caroline Merrell, senior director of sustainability: “Lightweighting glass is where we’ve made the most consistent progress. It doesn’t change the wine or the consumer experience; the sustainability gain is just built in.”

Another sensible initiative for glass that is largely accepted by consumers is in-market bottling. “Bottling wine in market is highly efficient, lowers fuel use, significantly cuts carbon emissions and reduces the need to haul glass and other packaging materials around the world,” says Vicky Wood, head of brand & insights at Kingsland Drinks.

Shipping wine in bulk, she says, not only reduces carbon emissions by about 40%, but also reduces transport costs and breakages and improves shelf life.

What about aluminium packaging?

Aluminium cans are light, have an excellent carbon performance, are easy for consumers to recycle, and are already popular for some drinks and occasions.

Dan Harwood, MD for Eisberg’s SW Wines Europe, adds that their “uniform shape allows for more efficient stacking and higher pallet density, meaning more products can be transported per load”.
Eisberg has launched its Be Free range exclusively in aluminium cans, hoping they will appeal to new, younger wine drinkers.

What’s the downside of cans?

Like glass, virgin aluminium production is extremely energy intensive. The environmental benefits emerge when recycling systems work effectively; recycling aluminium consumes only 5% of the energy needed for primary production.

Consumer perceptions of low quality have historically been a barrier for cans, particularly in wine, but the industry is now seeing a growing acceptance of – and demand for – premium canned drinks, particularly from younger drinkers who are seeking both convenience and quality.

Aluminium cans can’t compete with the traditional glass bottle when it comes to ageing and preserving wine’s quality over a longer period, but this format is working well for certain consumer occasions and UK consumers now have a wide range of premium canned wines to choose from.

And the rise of canned cocktails, marketed as premium, sophisticated versions of well-known serves, has transformed the drinks aisles, with many retailers now dedicating substantial shelf (and fridge) space to these drinks.

The category is expected to be a hit over the summer and through the festival season. Waitrose’s ready-to-drink category is up by 11%, with canned sparkling wine sales up by 70% and canned rosé wine up by 23%, with the supermarket referring to this as the “tinification” trend.

Sarah Holland, the supermarket’s buyer for ready-to-drink, says: “We are seeing a huge trend of customers picking up canned cocktails for that ultimate summer convenience. Whether it’s for a sunny picnic or a weekend festival, you can enjoy a top-tier drink without having to play bartender.”

New products continue to hit the market, with Aperol Spritz’s recently launched grab-and-go can expected to be a big hit for the summer, alongside existing players such as Moth, with its premium range of canned cocktails including the Mojito, Margarita and Espresso Martini.

With wine, the canned format works best for those that are designed to be drunk soon after purchase, as Merrell explains: “Every can has a liner separating the two, and once that liner starts to degrade, quality can drop quickly. Even with careful winemaking, you’re working with a 12–18 month shelf life at best, so your supply chain has to be tight.”

Are aluminium bottles the best of both worlds?

The aluminium bottle is an interesting development.

Kingsland Drinks is putting organic red, white and rosé wines from Sicilian producer Vinca in 100% recycled 75cl aluminium wine bottles. At around 70g, the lighter format delivers up to four times lower CO2 emissions than a comparable glass bottle, according to the company. Paul Braydon, director of business development & marketing, says: “Alternative formats are no longer niche – they’re becoming an essential part of how the wine category evolves.

“Our investment in aluminium bottle capability is about giving brands like Vinca the freedom to innovate while maintaining quality, scalability and sustainability at the core.

“We already produce Vinca’s full canned range and extending that partnership into 75cl aluminium bottles is a natural next step.”

Kingsland says the producer’s bottles are an appealing alternative to glass because they are infinitely recyclable and aluminium has widespread collection across the UK, with these factors also helping to reduce EPR fees.

Is Bag-in-Box the best alternative?

Bag-in-box (BiB) is a format that continues to gain traction as a sustainability option for still wine.
Several independent LCAs have found BiB among the lowest-impact wine packaging formats currently available. Some studies rank it as the best overall environmental option. The packaging is lightweight and space efficient, so it has low transport emissions. The format requires far less packaging material per litre of wine than with glass bottles.

In the past, the BiB format was often associated with lower-quality wines, but consumer perceptions have been changing in recent year as an influx of producers have moved into the premium space, strongly supported by retailers. Laylo is one example of a company that has successfully navigated this space by committing to “make boxed wine better, by sourcing fantastic wine and creating beautiful boxes you would be proud to share with friends”.

At the recent London Wine Fair, wine educator Janina Doyle ran a blind tasting to see if 20 trade members could tell the difference between wine from bottle versus BiB. Basically, they couldn’t. She says of the three pairs of wines: “Neither was obviously better. Neither showed lower quality. Nobody confidently identified the format across all three wines.”

One key issue that dents the sustainability credentials of many BiB options is the difficulty in recycling the bag at home, while fridge space can also be an issue for consumers. Producers are working on making the recycling element easier, while different shaped boxes are available to enable better storage.
Retailers have also been investing in this format. East Anglian wine shop chain Adnams introduced own-brand BiB wines to its portfolio a few years ago, as did fine wine merchant Lay & Wheeler. Waitrose is another retailer which has been adding premium and organic branded options to its collection of BiB wines for the past few years.

Do beverage cartons warrant attention?

The Tetra Pak and carton format is another strong performer for packaging liquids. This format is very lightweight and efficient to transport, but not easy to recycle and may struggle with perceptions around quality, particularly when used for packaging wine.

Somewhere between BiB and cartons come paper bottles. Made primarily from recycled paperboard with a food-grade liner, they have the advantage of shelf appeal.

Jackson’s Merrell says: “Paper bottles sound compelling but the execution hasn’t matched the promise. What’s on the market right now is essentially bag-in-box shaped like a bottle – the outer shell is paper, but there’s still a plastic inner bag. You have to separate them to recycle properly, and most consumers won’t do this.”

It’s beginning to look like glass versus plastic – and the hidden plastics that aid shelf life in paper bottles, BiB, cartons and cans can be just as problematic as those in PET bottles.

Research into paper, fibre and bio-based coatings, and alternative barrier technologies aimed at replacing fossil-derived plastic liners, is ongoing, but none of these alternatives is likely to be as cheap as plastic.
is A portfolio approach the best solution?

Carbon footprint, recyclability, reuse, resource consumption, product protection and consumer behaviour aren’t yet in alignment. The arrival of the UK’s new green packaging tax, in the form of EPR and DRS, is also likely to change the landscape for packaging formats, with EPR disproportionately targeting
glass packaging, while DRS is (currently) set to focus on everything but glass.

So, the near future belongs to a portfolio of solutions, each optimised for a different occasion, price point and supply chain.

Consumers are increasingly looking for convenience, especially for spontaneous al fresco occasions to suit the UK’s changing weather conditions, while other formats – such as the glass bottle – work well for longer-term plans, where liquid preservation is a key factor.

Ryan McFarland, chief commercial & strategy officer at Drinksology Kirker Greer, confirms: “Every decision involves balancing multiple factors, including materials, manufacturing, transport, recyclability, cost and product performance.

“The challenge is to look at the overall impact rather than focusing on a single metric.”