The return of reusable wine bottles

Switzerland is one of the world’s top countries for bottle recycling, more than 95%, and the number of wine bottles made from recycled glass is high. But the last factory to melt down, recycle and make new glass bottles, Vetropak in St. Prex, announced earlier this month that it may have to close. Despite CHF50 million invested since 2010 profitability has been elusive for the company’s home Swiss plant. Vetropak opened in St. Prex in 1911, boosting a long history of glassmaking in the lakefront village, and it now has factories elsewhere in Europe.

Saint Prex in canton Vaud, Switzerland, has been making glass for centuries thanks to local sandy beaches. The last glass bottlemaker in Switzerland, a major recycling centre, has just announced it may have to close.

The impact on wine bottle production is unclear while Vetropak and local authorities talk, with 180 jobs at stake. The company is an important supplier to Swiss cellars.

The situation should draw attention to a nascent bottle-back project in canton Vaud, started by wineries, that seeks to reduce the carbon print of wine bottles and improve sustainability. Bottle Back was announced by a group of wine producers in June 2023 as a two-year pilot project supported by CHF88,000 from the canton’s Department of Economic Promotion and Innovation. Some 80,000 bottles — burgundy 75 cl — are being put into the project, in which 9 Vaud wineries and 2 in Valais are taking part. There are currently 12 bottle collection points.

Between 30 and 60% of a winery’s carbon footprint can be traced to its bottles, notes Bottle Back on its web site. It argues for reuse citing that washing and preparing bottles for reuse generates 85% less CO2 than a recycled bottle. It does better in terms of its carbon footprint than recycling PET or making wine boxes.

A kilo of recycled glass generates from 300 to 500 grams of CO2. A recycled bottle is made from glass melted down at 1500 C — a heavy use of energy. Reusing glass means sourcing less sand, which is coming under pressure worldwide — the sandy beaches that long ago led to St. Prex becoming a glassmaking centre have mostly disappeared.

Bottle Back explained on YouTube

The group’s initial goals are: establish labelling and hygiene standards with a move to water soluble labels, optimise logistics to make returns easy for consumers, shops, restaurants and the wineries, test the project’s economic viability and review it with an eye towards involving the largest possible number of wineries. Administrative and research startup Eqlosion is working with them to find the most efficient, cost-effective solutions.

There is interest in expanding the project nationwide, with dozens of wineries saying they would be willing to join. “The more wineries that take part, the more collection points there will be, the more bottles that will be returned,” says Catherine Cruchon of winery Henri Cruchon, one of the producers who started the project. The winery provides instructions for clients on how to return bottles.

Left, four natural wines were selected by Cruchon for the pilot. Right, St. Prex celebrated Vetropak’s centenary in 2011.

Zero Waste Europe puts the recycle or bottle back debate into context:

When compared to recycling or the manufacturing of new products or packaging from virgin materials, reuse avoids resource extraction, reduces energy use, reduces waste generation, and can prevent littering. By changing the way in which consumers think about the use of natural resources and how they relate to the products they buy, reuse can incentivise a shift toward more conscious consumption, and also encourage companies to produce more durable andlong-lasting products that can endure as many cycles as possible.

Recycling should be seen as the last defence against disposal, only when other circular economy strategies (i.e. reuse, repurposing, remanufacturing, etc.) to manage the products … are not feasible. At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge that focusing more attention on reuse does not diminish the importance of recycling. On the contrary, the use of recycled materials in reusable products can further reduce their impacts.

Ultimately, the project could have an impact on Vetropak’s approach to glass in Switzerland. The company is already working on glass reuse in Austria and elsewhere, with its Echovai technology, researching new strong lightweight bottles that can be reused, although the current focus is on beer bottles.

Great Wine Capitals / 24 Heures article on the project (En) probes some of the complications and potential for reusable bottles.