Scott DeFife: The US glass market is strong, and glass wine bottles are a sustainable choice

By Scott DeFife, president of the Glass Packaging Institute

Last month, I attended the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium (UWGS) to give a presentation updating the trade press on recent trends and data points on the domestic and imported glass market. This conference and trade show is one of the largest gatherings for the wine industry, and I got the chance to connect with several talented wine executives about the impressive work they are doing to make the industry even more sustainable.?

In addition to covering glass packaging trends, I provided attendees with an overview of the benefits of choosing glass for their wine offerings, and the advancements being made in North American glass production which improve upon the sustainability profile of glass. As we discussed implementation of new packaging laws across the country, I was surprised to learn that most media and attendees were unaware that California had recently enacted some significant changes.

So for this month’s column, I’ll walk through all of these updates for folks who couldn’t make the trek out to Sacramento for the conference.?

The domestic glass market is strong

First – in terms of the glass market overall, the state of the industry is strong . Last year saw continued high demand and robust domestic production. The fact that all raw materials required to manufacture glass in the U.S. can be sourced and found within North America means the industry is resilient to many common supply chain issues like port congestion, intermodal and delays connected to unloading imports, among other delivery challenges.?

Through November 2022, domestic glass container plants shipped out nearly 2 billion wine bottles to their customers, surpassing the November 2021 total by 17 million. As wine markets grow in 2023, domestic wine bottle manufacturers are well-positioned to meet demand and customer requirements.

Bottle bills improve glass recycling rates

Second – as I mentioned at the top, there’s some important news on the policy front. Not only did California enact a new packaging law that will curtail the use of plastic packaging in the state, and hopefully improve its curbside recycling system, but California also chose to expand its bottle deposit program to include wine and spirits. This is critical for products packaged in glass for two reasons: it will dramatically increase rates of glass bottle recycling, and it will improve the circular economy for glass.

Beginning January 2024, wine and spirits bottles sold in the state will carry a 10-cent deposit – a long-recognized and prime incentive for the consumer to return their bottles, resulting in increased recycled content and recycling rates for glass. Based on the focus of the broader packaging law on reducing contamination from plastics, and the fees related to those initiatives, it is better for glass to be added to a system that already handles a majority of the material and creates a cleaner stream. More on that in another column.

For the wine industry, however, it is important to note that Oregon is also in the middle of expanding its recycling program in a similar manner to California, with a choice of systems for? wine and spirits. Similarly, based on the fact that the decisions on expanding the underlying curbside system will be oriented around plastic and other hard-to-recycle materials, we recommend inclusion in the Oregon bottle bill program, which is the highest performing system for glass in the country.??

Washington State is actively considering a similar dual system of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging and Oregon style bottle deposit. The state seems poised to overcome waste-industry opposition to follow suit (for more on the WA kerfuffle, check out my letter to the editor in The Olympian from late last month).?

This slate of legislation will dramatically increase the availability and quality of recycled glass in U.S. wine regions, where most new bottles are produced. We know this because data shows recycling rates in bottle bill program states are roughly three times higher than in states without these programs. Considering that a recycled bottle can be back on the shelves as a new bottle in as little as 30 days, the impact of these positive developments should be felt quickly in the region.?

Glass bottles are the sustainable choice for wine

Finally — let’s take a moment to get back to first principles and lay out some of the benefits of glass. It’s a good reminder of what we’re advocating for and why it’s important. Many packaging marketers for other materials have been taught to only talk about weight, which is why they try to convince consumers that plastic is sustainable.? But weight is only one factor when considering sustainability.?

Glass is the only packaging material that doesn’t need plastic lining or toxic chemicals when it’s produced. It is both more reusable and more recyclable, and has a much lower impact on the environment if it becomes mismanaged waste. Glass is a single-material package, not multi-layered and complicated, and is the best performing material when it comes to preservation of the product, extending the life of the product and reducing food waste. When? sourced locally and sustainably, the tonnage of carbon dioxide that would have otherwise been released by transportation is further reduced.?

Glass is, of course, infinitely recyclable — another distinction that few materials can lay claim to. With the weight of glass bottles declining by nearly a third in the past twenty years, a majority of bottles being light- and medium-weight compared to decades ago and carbon emissions from the manufacturing process declining by half since the 1970s, the glass industry as a whole continues on a more sustainable path.?

An EcoFocus Worldwide survey of 4,000 Americans in 2022 found that 85 percent of consumers over the age of 21 prefer their wine in glass bottles. This overwhelming number stands in sharp contrast to recent wine critic pieces extolling supposed consumer demand and environmental virtues of bag-in-box and other, lesser used alternative packaging options.

Thanks for reading. I’m looking forward to updating you all again on the state of glass in March. In the meantime, you can find the deck from my UWGS press conference at this link , and can stay up-to-date with the latest from the Glass Packaging Institute by following us on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , and TikTok , and visiting our website at www.gpi.org .