James Ross Consulting - Waste and Resources Action Programme

Waste and Resources Action Programme

Wine Bottle Study

WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) was established in 2001 in response to the UK Government's Waste Strategy 2000 to promote sustainable waste management. WRAP is set up as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee by DEFRA, the DTI, and the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. WRAP appointed James Ross Consulting as an accredited Framework Technical Advisor in 2005 and we have undertaken a number of projects looking at ‘best in class’ packaging (Cost Benefit Analysis), sealing technology and refill and self-dispensing within the UK retail sector. The initial wine bottle study looked at wines purchased from grocery and other off-trade stores and compared ‘best in class’ bottle weights of New World wines against those of Old World wines. The project was then expanded to look at the environmental and cost benefits of bulk importing wines and bottling in the UK. The projected benefits in both environmental and cost terms were very significant and thus the project was expended further to look at a wider selection of bottles (350+), including the top 50 selling wines in the UK for 2005.

wrap.org.uk

Data Analysis

The data presented in this study formed the basis of a major presentation to the wine industry given by WRAP at the May 2006 London International Wine and Spirits Fair. The conclusion offered by JRC and WRAP, and supported by individuals in the wine trade, was that there is a strong business / environmental case for bulk importing wine to the UK and bottling in lightweighted bottles.

Business Challenge

Cost Benefit Analysis for Bulk Importation and Light-Weighting

The UK is a major manufacturer of clear (flint) glass, but traditionally has little green glass manufacturing; however, the UK glass recycle stream is dominated by imported green wine bottles. Thus the UK imports clear cullet and exports green cullet. Two of the key objectives of WRAP are to reduce waste and increase recycling, therefore wine bottles were investigated to see if lightweighting was feasible and to assess the impact of any change in the recycling stream. There were approximately one billion (1,000,000,000) 75cl wine bottles sold in the UK in 2005 (source A C Nielsen), thus any changes in bottle weight could have a big impact on the waste stream. But given the competitive nature of the market, any changes must be sympathetic to the brand and give good return on investment.

How JRC Helped

Sample Collation and Analysis

Bottle weights for a wide ranging sample of bottles were determined and the possible options for weight reduction were calculated. Taking into account the cost of change, it was determined that the savings in financial terms would yield a payback in weeks rather than months for the more popular (high sales volume) wines. Comparison of costs of bottling at source versus bulk importing and bottling in the UK clearly demonstrated significant cost benefits in terms of materials, distribution as well as PRN expenses. As part of the study the carbon emissions associated with the manufacture, distribution and disposal of the glass bottles were estimated and again, light weighting demonstrated significant benefits for the environment due to much reduced emissions. To help deliver the message simply, the data was distilled to its simplest form and put into a spreadsheet that could be used to determine both monetary and carbon emission savings by lightweighting and/or bulk importing and bottling in the UK. This was then converted by WRAP into an on-line interactive web page – called the 'wine ready reckoner’ - available to anyone who wishes to use it.

Value Delivered

Attracting Considerable Interest

The data presented showed clear financial and environmental reasons for lightweighting 75cl wine bottles – even a 10-20% bottle weight reduction could yield significant savings for both the producer and the environment. The data is being presented by WRAP to the wine supply chain, and has attracted considerable interest from those within the industry.