Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Biodegradable Bottles?

The familiar clink of a wine bottle could become a thing of the past.
A British inventor has made one from paper!
The papier mache bottle has a carbon footprint just 10% that of a glass wine bottle – of which the UK uses 1.2 billion a year. The Greenbottle can also biodegrade on a compost heap within weeks.
Martin Myerscough has already invented cardboard milk bottles that are on sale at UK food chain Asda, and hopes their success can be repeated with wine.
And no, the bottle doesn't go soggy: the wine is held in a plastic liner, similar to that of a wine box. Advantages of the bottles are that they don't break when dropped, and are much lighter to carry. The cardboard shell also helps insulate white wine after it's been chilled in the fridge.
In some countries, wine is already available in Tetra-Pak containers but, because of their waxy coating, they're difficult to recycle - unlike this innovation.
Wine experts think (hope?) the concept will only find favour with inexpensive, commodity wine.
But as we already have "chateau cardboard" wine, isn't this a bit like reinventing the wheel?

No comments: