Over 98% of American wine consumers with a preference prefer wine packaged in glass bottles, reaching nearly 100% for younger wine consumers, ages 20 to 35.1

Eighty percent of American wine lovers think glass keeps the taste of wine pure and consumers know glass keeps wine fresh.1

Glass is the only packaging material that:

  • protects the taste of wine
  • protects the environment
  • consumers trust as safe for its contents

Good Packaging Should Maintain a Product’s Original Taste

Characteristics of wine may have an important effect on the package integrity.2 Glass containers are preferred for bottling wine because they are the only material with a high impermeability to gases and vapors, prove stable over time, are transparent, and are readily recycled.3 Unlike plastic, cans and multi-layered or bag-in-box cartons, glass does not need any plastic layers or other additives to preserve the taste of wine.

Glass packaged wine will never have a sell-by date. In glass, wine can maintain its taste for half-a- century or longer, whereas in plastic containers or bag- in-box containers, wine is only good for a few months at most. Research finds exposure of white wines packaged in bag-in-box packaging to elevated temperature and oxygen can influence their enological parameters during the secondary shelf life storage.4 A new Bordeaux study also finds wine oxidizes in plastic after just six months, whereas the glass bottle preserves white wine’s original characteristics with stability.5

Good Packaging Should Not Pollute the Environment

Most Americans (91%) know glass best preserves the shelf life of alcoholic beverages.6

Glass bottles are endlessly recyclable and can go from recycling bin to the store shelf in as little as 30 days. Recycling glass reduces consumption of raw materials, reduces CO2 emissions, and saves energy. Improved technology has also led to lighter weight glass containers that are remarkably strong, safe, and up to 40 percent lighter than they were 20 years ago.

Unlike glass, bag-in-box and polyethylene terephthalate containers are made of materials that cannot be recycled, but rather can only be incinerated or “downcycled” into other products that will eventually end up in landfills and in our oceans. Bag-in-box containers are typically made with a plastic or aluminum bladder set inside a fiberboard box, while polyethylene terephthalate containers are made with 100 percent petroleum products, accounting for a full 10 percent of the nation’s oil consumption.

The glass container industry set an ambitious goal to use 50 percent recycled content in the manufacture of new glass bottles and jars by the end of 2013. This will make glass bottles even more sustainable. Some manufacturers in California are already exceeding that level, reaching over 70 percent recycled content in the production of new glass bottles for wine.

Good Packaging Should Make Your Customers Feel Safe

Three-out-of-four American wine drinkers expressing an opinion believe glass is the best material for recycling (73.2%) compared to bag-in-a-box packaging (4.8%).1

Consumers trust glass:

  • Glass packaging is pure and safe for its contents and provides the sophistication and elegance consumers crave.
  • Glass bottles and jars are made from natural, locally abundant and sourced sand, soda ash, limestone, and “cullet” or recycled glass.
  • Glass is the only container in the U.S.to be “generally recognized as safe” by the FDA.
  • No one knows the full impact of what happens when wine comes in contact with plastic over any period of time.

For more information, visit gpi.org or winelovesglass.com

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1 Surveys of 750 Americans were conducted by telephone in April and July 2009 by Newton Marketing Research, Norman, Oklahoma, in conjunction with Doyle Yoon, PhD, a Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications at Gaylord College, University of Oklahoma. The surveys have a margin of error of +/- 3.7%.

2 Hsu, C. L., Chang, K. S. (2006). Evaluation of the integrity of aseptic packages containing various filling products. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 41, 1061-1066.

3 Mentana, A.; Pati, S., La Notte, E., del Nobile, M. A. (2009). Chemical changes in Apulia table wines as affected by plastic packages. LWT - Food Science and Technology, 42, 1360-1366.

4 Fu, Y., Lim L. T., & McNicholas, P.D. (2009). Changes on Enological Parameters of White Wine Packaged in Bag-in-Box during Secondary Shelf Life. Journal of Food Science, 74(8).

5 Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences Bordeaux (2009 - 2010). Influence of packaging on wine preservation 12 month study, HC/12.07.

6 A survey of 1000 Americans was conducted by telephone from April 15 - 18, 2010 by Opinion Research, with a margin of error of +/- 5% (survey facts).