It is the revolution on the wine market: Germany’s first reusable bottle for wine, which will soon be available in the standard 0.75 liter size. “In addition to the ecological advantages, the reusable bottle also gives the participants greater independence,” says Werner Bender, CEO of Wein-Reusable, which puts the bottle into circulation with Weinheimat Württemberg, a cooperative. Because: A bottleneck in the ability of the glassworks to deliver, as last year, will hit the wine industry with returnables much less hard in the future than before.
In principle, the reusable bottle for wine should work in the same way as the reusable bottle for beer. The consumers buy the wine bottles in the usual supermarkets or in the wine trade and can bring them back to the normal collection points. That means, for example, at the vending machine in the supermarket, where the reusable system is already part of everyday life.
The reusable wine bottle is special in its robustness. Because in order to make them reusable at all, they have to withstand a lot. It should be able to be cleaned and refilled up to 50 times. When it comes to the closure, the makers rely on a screw cap. However, other options are not excluded.
The highlight of the reusable system stands and falls with the participants. If you want to take part, you have to join the Wein-Multiweg eG. The system could play an important role for retailers because it binds customers when they bring the bottles back to the place of purchase. This increases the chance of repurchase, according to the assessment of the board of Wein-Multiweg eG.
In addition, a lot of packaging waste can be saved both in retail and in the catering trade because there is no need to dispose of the empty bottles. And the end consumers save themselves the trip to the used glass container. Whether the reusable wine bottle will prevail remains to be seen. For ecological reasons, a first step towards sustainability has at least already been taken.
