O-I Glass joins Sustainable Wine Roundtable to advise and advance global wine sustainability

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O-I Glass, Inc. (“O-I Glass” or “O-I”) announced today that the company will join a global collaborative platform to advance sustainability across the wine industry as member of the Sustainable Wine Roundtable (SWR).  

  • O-I Glass will join wine industry leaders and stakeholders to create global standards for wine sustainability 

  • The Sustainable Wine Roundtable is an independent, non-profit roundtable for sharing best practices to advance sustainability 

  • O-I will be the first glassmaker, globally to join the Roundtable

PERRYSBURG, Ohio (March 26, 2024) - The SWR consists of more than 120 members representing leading wine brands, small producers, distributors, retailers, and packaging producers to make the wine sector even more sustainable. SWR announced an accord to reduce the average bottle weight of standard wine bottles to below 420 grams by the end of 2026—representing about a 25 percent decrease in weight. By joining SWR, O-I glass will work to help members make progress toward their sustainability objectives for packaging in glass.  

Wine packaging represents nearly 20 percent of O-I’s global glass container portfolio. As part of the company’s commitment to re-invent and reimagine glass packaging, O-I is working closely with its customers to advance novel technologies to manufacture a lower carbon future for glass packaging. 

Most recently, O-I announced the B0 Estampe™ wine bottle that weighs only about 390g—well below the average weight of typical wine bottles. Available to O-I customers in France and validated by the Carbon Trust, the Estampe bottle has a reduced carbon footprint – about 25 percent less carbon emissions compared to conventional 500g wine bottles and uses up to 80% recycled content. The residual footprint is offset by the purchase of carbon credits.  

O-I Glass is also the producer of the “Cento per Cento Sicilia” (100 Percent Sicily) bottles that are produced with about 90 percent locally recycled glass along with locally recovered secondary raw materials. This local, closed-loop program enables glass packaging to be cleaned, separated, and prepared to be made into glass packaging again—all reducing the need to import empty wine bottles for local wineries.  

“O-I is working closely with wine producers around the world to demonstrate that all aspects of wine production can be achieved sustainably while maintaining the integrity of the packaging and adding value to the local wine region,” said Randy Burns Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer for O-I. “While we believe that glass packaging is already the most sustainable choice across the full lifecycle of wine packaging, O-I is actively fostering relationships through organizations like the Sustainable Wine Roundtable to engage our full ecosystem in advancing our sustainable journey.” 

O-I glass is pleased to join the SWR as it catalyzes and drives collective action and knowledge sharing to advance sustainability in its vision “of a world where high quality wine is produced, traded and consumed in ways that conserve and generate the natural environment, respect human rights and foster quality and inclusion; and generate prosperity, pride and passion for excellence.” 

To learn more about O-I’s sustainable packaging for wine and its global vision for sustainability, visit the company’s website at: http://o-i.com/sustainability