Sainsbury’s is trialling its own label PET wine bottle.
This project is supported by the government funded Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
Initially, Sainsbury’s will offer two own label wines in the new PET bottle: A New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and an Australian Rosé.  If successful, they will be rolled out to other wines.
The new wine bottle looks exactly the same as a glass bottle, holds the same amount of liquid and doesn’t compromise the quality of the wine in any way. ET bottles have many benefits, and are recyclable.

Kinder to the environment:
A regular glass wine bottle weighs approximately 400 grams compared to a PET bottle at 54 grams. This means the PET bottle is an eighth of the weight.
The UK consumes around one billion bottles of wine every year, using around ½ million tonnes of glass for the packaging.  Reducing the weight of all glass wine bottles to the lightest available could reduce carbon emissions by around 90,000 tonnes.**.
Sainsbury’s PET wine is also bottled in the UK rather than at source, this means nearly twice the amount of wine can be transported per container. Bulk shipping also reduces the environmental impact of transportation, which again will reduce the impact of carbon emissions.
Moving wine bottles from glass to PET could significantly contribute to Sainsbury’s new target of reducing CO2 emissions by 25% by 2012; outlined along with other tough targets in its corporate responsibilityreport ***.
The PET wine bottles are one of many projects Sainsbury’s is exploring to be more energy efficient, particularly in the area of transport and operations, where it aims to reduce the distance its fleet and suppliers travel by 5 million kilometers by 2010.
Lightweight:
Not only does this mean that shopping will not be weighed down with heavy wine bottles, but the PET bottle is perfect for summer festivals, picnics, beach parties and BBQs.
Unbreakable – More robust and safer than glass:
Unlikely to break in transport/home/outside and much safer than glass.
WRAP is involved in the PET wine bottle trial, supporting the assessment of consumer reaction to this initiative, to understand how successfully the plastic bottles can be recycled, and to measure their environmental impact.
In addition to the own label PET wine, Wolf Blass will also be launching a brand new tier of their range in PET.  Wolf Blass Green Label will be launched in Chardonnay and Cabernet Shiraz throughout Sainsbury’s from mid-August.  Priced at £7.49, the premium brand from Australia will provide Wolf Blass consumer with the same quality of wine in a lightweight, unbreakable and convenient 750ml pack.
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