Cramele Recas bottle from recycled plastic

Cramele Recas bottle from recycled plastic
photo provided

Wine in plastic bottles about to hit UK shelves

Cramele Recas will see its Cabernet Sauvignon shipped in packaging reclaimed from the River Danube.

The drive to find more sustainable processes in the wine industry has seen a range of packaging alternatives finding their way on to supermarket shelves including cans and even paper bottles.

Now, Romanian winery Cramele Recas has come up with wine bottle made entirely from recycled plastic recovered from the River Danube, their Cabernet Sauvignon under the Richtig Lecker brand packaged in the new format soon to be stocked in UK shops.

The idea is aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and, while glass is recyclable, the greatest cause of carbon dioxide emissions in the industry is through the production and transportation of glass bottles.

And helping recycle plastic that is polluting both the Danube and the Black Sea it flows into as well as reducing emissions is a win-win according to Philip Cox of Cramele Recas.

“The wine industry has faced significant challenges in recent years caused by climate change,” said Cox. “As an industry, we really need to reduce CO2 emissions by finding alternatives to glass, which is the most significant cause of CO2 emissions in wine production.”

Cramele Recas is Romania’s largest wine exporter and it was late last year that intensive work began to test out plastic alternatives to glass bottles. The company has met opposition to its plans from retailers concerned at consumers reluctance to purchase wine in plastic bottles, but Cox confirmed that wine in the new packaging will go on sale in the UK soon.

Estimates put the plastic pollution transported by the Danube into the Black Sea at around 1,500 tonnes per year.

 

Adam Murray
Adam Murray
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