Kimoto Glassware has developed a way to process used wine bottles into various kinds of tableware that generally retains the original shapes of the bottles.

The company is expected to market the products in major department stores starting at the end of May 2012. Priced from 2,500 yen, the items will be promoted as eco-friendly tableware that helps to conserve energy and reduce landfill mass.

Much of the wine consumed in Japan is imported, and the bottles vary widely in thickness and composition, making them difficult to reuse. Most end up being buried as waste or used for road materials.

To fashion tableware from these wine bottles, Kimoto Glassware developed a technology for varying the heating temperature, duration and processing methods, so the bottles can be formed into shaped tableware. Since the process only partially changes the original shapes of the bottles, it involves a third of the heat energy consumed when glass bottles are melted down for recycling.

The company will obtain the used wine bottles from industrial waste recyclers and plans to make the tableware at a rate of 500 items a month, then boost monthly production 10-fold after three years.