Words by Smiley Team
Diverging away from tradition, wine brand When In Rome has created an eco-friendly paper bottle, which they promise doesn’t change the taste.
“Whether you’re drinking from a glass bottle or a paper bottle, the quality of the wine is not impacted,” Rob Malin, the company’s founder, told The Guardian.
“People think bag-in-box wine is crap. It’s ridiculous because most Australian wine comes here in huge bag-in-boxes,” he added.
More importantly, their new bottle requires much less energy to produce compared to glass and uses recycled paper.
[Read about other innovations and breakthroughs helping us shift towards a greener, fairer economy]
Glass production requires melting sand and other compounds in a furnace at a temperature of up to 1700°C. To generate this amount of heat manufacturers usually burn fossil fuels, emitting a huge amount of CO2.
In contrast, paper requires less energy to produce, is easier to recycle and because it is lighter, causes less emissions from transportation.
However, to keep the wine from soaking through the paper, the manufacturers have used a plastic wallet to hold the wine inside. Plastic is also recyclable but is produced from polluting petrochemicals.
When In Rome’s launch follows on from another paper wine bottle, Frugal Bottle, which the company introduced to the market in 2020.
Its manufacturer claimed: “We want to deliver great wine and spirits in innovative packaging whilst helping our customers and consumers reduce their impact on the environment.”
For an even greener alternative, other businesses are selling refillable bottles of wine. These include Reno Refills, Wolf Wine and The English Vine in the UK.
ACT NOW: To help build a movement against pointless packaging, get involved with anti-waste organisation Refill.
