Project type                     Waste prevention; Reuse circuits; Glass bottles; Circular economy

Partners                           The project involved consumers, producers, bars, restaurants, wholesalers and shops to make a pilot study of the reuse of wine bottles, from washing, labelling, bottling and distribution on the market and until their collection.

Main partners and promoters were, concretely: Autonomous University of Barcelona Research Park, Catalan foundation for the reduction of waste and responsible consumption – Rezero, Inèdit, Catalan Waste Agency, Cooperativa Falset Marçà, Torres (cellar), Infinity (plant for the collection, selection, washing and reuse of wine and cava bottles).

Dates                                     2018- ongoing

Funding                              reWINE had a total budget of 991,309€, of which 60% was provided by the European Union

The reWINE pilot test has shown that the reuse of bottles in the wine sector is technically feasible and more environmentally friendly.

The pilot test involved 7 Catalan wineries, more than 30 shops, more than 50 restaurants, 2 logistics companies, 3 green points and 2 glass washing plants.

It started in September 2018, intending to recover 100,000 bottles of wine through different systems. During the 20 months that the pilot test lasted, 150,000 bottles with the reWINE label were sold and 822,399 were recovered.

To achieve this, different logistic scenarios were explored. Wine bottles were collected through both the participating restaurants and shops with incentive systems. For example, several supermarkets paid 10 cents to consumers who returned a bottle with the reWINE label. Some small establishments applied a deposit to the bottle (between 0.13 and 0.5 cents), which was returned once they had recovered the bottle.

There have been 6 factors determining the implementation of wine bottle recycling: 1) characteristics of the bottle (model, label and capping system), 2) bottles transport, 3) distance to the washing facility, 4) storage capacity, 5) hygienic storage conditions and 6) incentives for returning the empty bottles.

• The project recovered 82,239 bottles of wine for reuse.
• The ideal number of use was 8 cycles of reuse, considering the aesthetic and hygienic aspects of the bottle.
• The distance between the washing facility and the winery has demonstrated to be of prime importance in optimising the economic cost of the wine bottles reuse strategy. In Catalonia, the optimal distance between the winery and the washing plant is 60km, sufficient to cover the areas of each PDO (protected designation of origin).
• The deposit, return and return system -SDDR- showed to be the most effective instrument to guarantee the return of empty bottles to establishments by consumers.
• Recycling bottles showed to save between 1.7 and 2.6 kg of CO₂ eq/bottle after 8 reuses (7 washings). In this case, the useful life of these bottles represents the saving of more than 170,000 kg of CO₂ equivalent, which are the emissions that a vehicle would produce while traveling 11 times around the world.
• The reduction of 34 tons of glass packaging waste was achieved.
• Reusing wine bottles in the Catalan wine sector could save more than 100 million kg of CO₂ equivalent per year and 21,756 tonnes of waste, thereby reducing its carbon footprint by 28%.