Owens-Illinois (O-I), the global leader in glass packaging, announced in May that it will begin manufacturing wine bottles weighing as little as 11.6 ounces for its North American market, up to 27% le…
Owens-Illinois (O-I), the global leader in glass packaging, announced in May that it will begin manufacturing wine bottles weighing as little as 11.6 ounces for its North American market, up to 27% less than similar bottles in its current product line. O-I, based in Perrysburg, Ohio, already reduced the weight of wine bottles in late 2008, when it produced 17-ounce bottles for California“s Fetzer Vineyards, to replace the average 20.3-ounce bottles then in use. Lightening wine bottles is part of the wine industry“s effort to become greener, just as society as a whole turns to reusable grocery bags and “carbon-neutral” becomes a lifestyle choice for individuals and corporations. However, it is not uncommon to find bottles weighing almost four pounds when empty. O-I“s choice may also depend on “green“ competition from producers of alternative wine packages, which also include boxes and cardboard Tetra Paks. The benefits of these include their light weight and uniform stacking, thus decreasing transportation costs and carbon emissions. Moreover, if they end up in landfills, they take up less room than bottles. However, the US lacks the capacity to recycle all the bottles collected. “In the United States and other countries, a significant amount of glass slated for recycling actually ends up in landfills,” Jay Scripter, O-I“s vice president of sustainability, said in a statement. “We want to use that glass to make new glass containers.” O-I said it would invest in improvements in the US recycling system as part of its new effort to reduce its energy consumption and carbon emissions. Company products use 36% recycled glass; with the aim of reaching 60% by 2017.