Wiegand-Glas collaborates on climate-neutral light-glass wine bottle, EcoBottle

German container glass manufacturer Wiegand-Glas, has collaborated on the production of the EcoBottle, a climate-neutral wine bottle made of guaranteed 93% recycled glass.

Although glass is 100% recyclable, the production of a glass bottle creates CO₂-emissions.

To tackle the issue head-on, Florenz Wiegand, son of one of the managing directors of Wiegand-Glas and graduate of the Hochschule Geisenheim University, initiated a collaboration between an academic group of undergraduate students majoring in Internationale Weinwirtschaft (International Wine Business) with Wiegand-Glas staff.

The goal of the group was clear, yet challenging – create an economically viable and environmentally friendly CO₂-free packaging made from recyclable glass.

The successful development of this sustainable glass packaging led to the idea of bringing the material onto the market.

The result is the new Eco2Bottle, the world’s first climate-neutral wine bottle made of guaranteed 93% recycled glass.

The Eco2Bottle is a weight-reduced 0.75 liter Bordeaux shaped wine bottle weighing 390 grams, making it almost 20% lighter than comparable wine bottles in the Wiegand-Glas portfolio.

This lighter bottle allows for more efficient use of raw and recycled materials, as well as a reduction in transportation costs for the suppliers and consumers - all while maintaining a climate-neutral product.

The Eco2Bottle not only protects the environment, it preserves the quality of the wine contained within.

Nikolaus Wiegand, managing director of Wiegand-Glas, said: "It is a widespread misconception that bottle weight is an indication of wine quality. After all, it is irrelevant to the wine how much the bottle weighs. But the environment does care."

To further reduce CO₂-emissions, the Eco2Bottle is produced exclusively with climate-neutral electricity from 100% hydropower (VERBUND) and from guaranteed 93% recycled glass.

According to the German Glass Industry Association (Bundesverband Glasindustrie e.V.), the average proportion of recycled glass in glass container production in Germany is around 60%.

This means that compared to the national average the Eco2Bottle saves 11% more energy and 13% of CO₂-emissions through the higher use of recycled glass.

Wiegand-Glas compensates for unavoidable emissions, such as those resulting from the burning of natural gas during the production process, by investing in a carbon offset project.

In cooperation with ClimatePartner, Wiegand-Glas supports the tree planting initiative “Bäume pflanzen in Deutschland”.

Thus, the CO₂-emissions resulting from the entire production process of the wine bottle are completely compensated.

For the first time in the history of the glass-packaging industry, Wiegand-Glas has leveraged all the tools currently available to reduce CO₂-emissions in one product.

The ‘greener wine bottle’ is the starting signal for the promising Eco2Bottle concept.

"The Eco2Bottle closes the circle of a more sustainable wine economy. Our goal is to serve other beverage and food products with this unique concept. We want to address consumers, sensitise them to the advantages of this idea and convince them", says Mr Wiegand