Considering alternatives to glass wine bottles

The author cautions consumers from assuming that alternatives to the glass wine bottle will incur less environmental impact, simply because they are innovative and new. Glass bottles can weigh as much as 1.2kg when empty, requiring energy to produce and transport around the world. Recent innovations include bottles manufactured from flax (which is two to three times lighter than glass) and paper bottles with lightweight plastic liners (94% recyclable if disassembled by the consumer) – but they have a proposed shelf life of only 12 – 18 months, and about 80% of all plastic lands in landfills. The author also notes that a glass wine bottle with a paper label can be used up to ten times, and up to 13 times with no paper label.