Boxed Wine: Sustainability
Bag-In-Box and the Environment
Never has there been a time when ‘going green’ and making eco-conscious decisions is so vital to our society. We, as consumers, have the ability to make an impact through the products we buy.
By purchasing boxed wine, you have the advantage of enjoying great wine while reducing environmental impacts.
Consider the following information provided by Simplified Environmental Impacts Calculator:
|
CONTENTS |
LANDFILL DISCARDS*
(g) |
GHG**
(g CO2 E) |
TOTAL ENERGY**
(MJ) |
|
| Scholle Bag-In-Box |
3 liter
|
52.5
|
0.118
|
2.08
|
| Glass Bottle |
0.75 liter
|
607.9
|
0.586
|
8.82
|
*As compared to an equal volume of wine packaged in traditional glass bottles.
Additional Environmental Benefits of Boxed Wine
Bag-In-Box displays positive advantages over traditional glass bottles when evaluated side-by-side using packaging industry benchmarks.
PACKAGE-TO-PRODUCT RATIO:
Compares how many pounds of packaging used per pound of product content.
Low ratio values suggest an efficient use of packaging materials for the product.
Ways to lower the ratio:
- Replace heavy packaging materials with lighter materials
- Increase the amount of product inside the package
The Equation:
weight of all packaging materials ÷ weight of product content = package-to-product ratio
CUBE UTILIZATION:
Cube Utilization is typically expressed as a percentage (%).
Higher percentages show sustainability improvements by:
- Reducing packaging materials
- Efficient use of transport or retail space
- Reducing fossil fuel emissions
The Equation:
total volume of packages on a pallet ÷ total pallet volume = cube utilization
Notes:
Simplified Environmental Impacts Calculator usage provided by The Dow Chemical Company
System Boundary: Raw Material Cradle-to-Gate, plus recycle
*Discards = package mass – recycle stream
Glass Assumptions:
… No recycled content
… 20% returns to recycle stream
Paper Assumptions:
… No recycled content
… 30% recovered to recycle stream †
**Lifecycle data sources:
… Paper: Environmental Defense – www.papercalculator.org
… Glass and Plastics: Boustead Model V5
† From the USL Report Feb., 2007
