Tetrapaks shown to have environmental advantages over glass

Tetrapaks use 80% less energy to produce than glass, making them a good packaging alternative from the environmental point of view. So says environmental scientist and manager of Banrock Station in Australia Tony Sharley, speaking at the Climate Change and Wine Conference in Spain.

Tetrapaks also have other environmental advantages over putting wine into bottles, said Tony, such as that they are square, which allows a higher density for transportation. This makes them almost as good as bulk wine shipping from an environmental standpoint, he said.

On the other hand, if a wine is in a glass bottle, 50% of the volume and 50% of the weight is wasted during transportation, according to Pancho Campo, president of the Wine Academy of Spain.

Tetrapaks, however, not only have the transportation benefits, but can also be recycled. So, for instance, explained Tony, in the UK the one-litre cartons of Banrock Station that Tesco sells are recycled into egg containers.