Wine Traders For Alternative Formats Logo

The Carbon Footprint of single use glass
wine bottles in the UK so far this year

Monday, 7th November 2022


James Cartlidge MP
HM Treasury
1 Horse Guards Road
SW1A 2HQ

An open letter to the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, James Cartlidge MP

The manufacturing and recycling of glass bottles is wine's biggest greenhouse gas contributor. In order to minimise the carbon footprint of the wines we drink, we need to seek out wines in alternative packaging wherever possible.

Switching from glass to alternative formats could save as much as 750,000,000 KgCO2e of emissions every year in the UK alone. This is the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road overnight, and equates to well over a third of the carbon footprint of wine consumed in the UK.

The IPCC’s (International Panel on Climate Change) recently found that without deep and meaningful emissions reductions across all sectors, it will not be possible to limit global warming to 1.5°C. In the scenarios they assessed, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 43% this decade.

We believe that like all other sectors, wine is duty bound to achieve this target as an absolute minimum. This will not be possible without reducing our reliance on traditional glass bottles. Viable alternative formats include boxed wine, canned wine, kegs, returnable glass bottles, paper bottles and pouches, all of which come with vastly reduced carbon footprints as well as a variety of other benefits. Crucially, there is little or no perceivable difference in quality between these formats and wine in glass bottles for wines drunk within a few months of purchase, as most are.

Wine Traders for Alternative Formats (WTAF) is an alliance of premium and innovative wine companies promoting quality wine in alternative formats. We support the WTAF mission to reduce our reliance on single-use glass bottles and back their call for the introduction of consumer tax incentives for carbon-friendly alternative packaging.

Signatories: