A British company is replacing glass wine bottles with a unique paper alternative, and bringing the product to the United States. Frugalpac designs and manufactures paper wine bottles in an effort to help decarbonize the drink industry.
The Frugalpac bottle weighs less than 3 ounces — almost five times lighter than a conventional glass bottle, saving on fuel and emissions in transport. Because each bottle starts its life flat-packed, it also means more of them can be transported at once. Paper wine bottles made by the British company Frugalpac are seen on a production line at their facility in Ipswich, England. Wine put into paper bottles won't have as long a shelf-life as that packaged in conventional glass, however. The company estimates red wine can be kept for 18 months in its bottles, while white wine will only last around a year.
"Our partnership with Frugalpac has allowed us to get behind the scenes of how this bottle is made and find U.S. producers for the [card]board and supply the materials right here from the U.S.," the Monterey Wine Company's Shannon Valladerez told CBS News.