Altia cuts carbon footprint with recyclable bag-in-boxes and rPET bottles for wine

25 May 2021 --- Altia is introducing wine bottles made from recycled PET (rPET) and 3 L recyclable bag-in-box (BiB) wine containers to reduce its carbon footprint.

According to the Nordic alcoholic beverage company, the BiB container has “the lowest” carbon footprint: 70 g CO2e per liter, compared to 675 g CO2e per liter for a traditional glass bottle. Meanwhile, the rPET bottles’ carbon footprint is reportedly less than 40 percent of a typical glass wine bottle. 

“In most cases, wine bags are made of laminated plastic multilayer material structure containing metallization, an aluminum layer, or even nylon plastic. This type of mixed material content will be very challenging to recycle,” Juha Ylisiurua, Altia’s packaging development manager tells PackagingInsights.

These kinds of bags are often rejected in the plastic sorting phase due to lacking technology to handle such complex material content. “Additionally, the color on the plastic is challenging. Several brand owners use black colors on their boxed wine handles and taps. As we know, the black color will block material reusability,” Ylisiurua adds. 

Altia's rPET wine bottle is 90% lighter in weight than a traditional glass bottle.

Innova Market Insights recorded “The Carbon Catalyst” as this year’s second top packaging trend, highlighting the increasing relevance of packaging’s carbon footprint as the key indicator of environmental sustainability. 

Vamping up boxed wine
BiBs are the primary format of wine packaging in Altia’s production. To tackle BiB’s typically poor recyclability, Altia’s boxed wines are packed in FSC-certified, recycled materials. 

“The handle of the bag-in-box container – that important piece of plastic used to take the container with you – will also be colorless from now on. This is a big deal because current recycling technology doesn’t recognize black plastic,” says Ylisiurua. 

While the tap valve remains red, 75 percent of the BiB’s visual colors are reduced to enhance recyclability. The bags in the wine boxes do not include metal, aluminum or nylon, allowing both the tap and bag to be disposed of as plastic waste. 

Altia’s bag-in-box wine packages contain 40 percent recycled material. The company’s goal is to increase its recycling-based material to 50 percent by the year 2025.

Other packaging companies focusing on improving BiB environmental credentials include DS Smith, LiquiBox and Scholle IPN. 

Deposit Return Scheme plastic
Altia identifies Scandinavian wine drinkers as its target consumer base, as they are “already accustomed” to purchasing alcoholic beverages in plastic packages. BiB wine containers have also been a “big hit” among “practically thinking Nordic consumers,” the company says.

Its rPET wine bottle is 90 percent lighter in weight than a traditional glass bottle. According to Altia’s life-cycle assessments, the new rPET wine bottle’s carbon footprint is also almost 50 percent smaller than a virgin plastic bottle.

“We are going to transition completely from virgin PET bottles in our own wine brands’ packaging during the summer,” notes Ylisiurua.

In similar developments, Kirin created plastic cider bottles for Japan’s “train culture,” while Garçon Wines brought its fully recycled and recyclable flat rPET bottle to the US market.

Away from conventional plastics, Bacardi is aiming to develop a 100 percent biodegradable and compostable bioplastic bottle for spirits by 2023.

By Anni Schleicher