We all probably feel a little bit better about ourselves when sorting out our domestic recycling each week. It is of course a positive action, doing our little bit for the environment. What about the ‘Waste Hierarchy’ though? What if we had prevented the waste from being created in the first place?
An EC directive from those halcyon pre-Brexit days of 2008, the “waste hierarchy” ranks waste management options according to what is best for the environment. Number one in the waste hierarchy is to prevent and if you can’t prevent the waste being formed then the next best option is to re-use. Recycling comes in at number three, still better than tossing in to landfill, but not quite as worthy as we might think.
More Wine believes that a more holistic approach to how your wine gets to you is worthy of consideration. Each 10 litre bag in box (BIB) sold by More Wine saves up to 13 empty glass bottles from a number of not so friendly eco-vices. Firstly the empty bottles are not shipped empty (‘carting air’ if you like) to the winery; secondly there is no need to ship said bottles them from the winery full of wine; thirdly as their use has been prevented, the bottles have not been imported so they do not need to be recycled. Far better for the winery to form the cardboard outers and fill the plastic inners of the bag in box units on site, having taken delivery of this packaging flat or on a roll.
More Wine not only prevents 1000s of glass bottles from being imported to the UK each and every month, but we also advocate the use of refillable and reuseable glass costolata bottles manufactured in the UK. A glass bottle still looks good on the kitchen table, remains perfect for taking to friends or for simply collecting a refill from your More Wine stockist. Rinse yours out with hot water, bake to sterilize should you wish and then its ready to reuse by refilling and thus preventing the need to recycle.
Glass is though for the record infinitely recyclable, it doesn’t lose quality, strength or functionality in so doing. The recycling process lowers the amount of natural resources required to form a further batch of bottles and decreases the amount of energy used in the process too. However, it remains that whilst on the increase the UK currently only manages to recycle 60% of the glass bottles and jars that it uses (www.britglass.org.uk). Further that there is such a volume of ‘cullet’ or base recycled glass in the UK that some ends up being used in aggregate and an amount ends up being exported.
More Wine is not anti-glass, we list a range of sparkling wines from England, where glass is required to facilitate the secondary fermentation in the bottle. However, here at least the wine miles have decreased and the wines are of course delicious.
To Order More Wine at Home (#MWAH), then please check out our shop .Next day delivery to mainland UK, Monday to Friday.
