I. Overview of glass wine bottle industry
Glass wine bottles take quartz sand, soda ash, calcite, dolomite and other main raw materials, its use is safe, convenient and comfortable, most of the white wine on the market are packaged in glass bottles.
Analysis of the advantages of glass wine bottles
No. Advantages
1 Glass wine bottles have the advantages of good chemical stability, easy to seal, high transparency and smooth surface; their storage performance is high, easy to disinfect and sterilize; they are beautifully decorated and colorful; they have a certain degree of mechanical strength, able to withstand the pressure inside the bottle and the external force in the process of transportation; the raw materials are widely distributed and easy to introduce into the production and processing.
2 Glass has good sealing and barrier properties, which can effectively avoid the volatilization of alcohol, but also prevent the erosion of air on alcohol products, prevent the deterioration of alcohol, and extend its storage time.
3 Glass wine bottles are safe and hygienic, with good corrosion resistance, and can be recycled and reused, which reduces packaging costs, improves economic efficiency, and reduces problems such as environmental pollution and waste of resources.
4 Glass wine bottles can also be extended and produced in more styles according to customer’s packaging needs through design and mold changes, so that the wine packaging is no longer a single, from the packaging aspect to improve the grade and market value of the product. At the same time, because its appearance is very smooth, it can fully show the texture of wine and wine bottle itself. And spray glaze, sandblasting, gold and other different processes also enhance the aesthetics of the bottle to a large extent.
5 Glass wine bottles for wine can accentuate the class of the wine. Although the texture of wine is related to its brewing and other processes, wine packaging is also an important and indispensable part of wine culture. With a good-looking, unique patterned bottle plus precise brewing, it will instantly enhance the grade of wine.
6 With the development of science and technology, the development of automatic technology and equipment for high-grade glass wine bottles has become increasingly mature, and the use of glass bottles for packaging can greatly save manpower and material resources, reduce production costs while improving production efficiency and quality.
二, from handmade to industrialized production, glass bottles are still one of the mainstream choices for liquor packaging
Glass wine bottles have a long history as a traditional material for liquor packaging. The following are some important stages in the development of the glass wine bottle industry:
1) Ancient glass bottles: the earliest glass wine bottles can be traced back to the ancient Roman period. At that time, people had already started to make glass bottles for wine, and these glass bottles were usually hand-blown and made with exquisite craftsmanship. Ancient Romans liked to use glass bottles to contain wine, because glass bottles have the advantages of good transparency, easy storage and transportation, and can well show the quality and characteristics of wine.
(2) Industrialized production: At the end of the 19th century, with the rise of the industrial revolution, the production of glass wine bottles began to industrialize, the introduction of automated glass blowing machines and molds greatly improved the production efficiency of glass wine bottles.
(3) Standardized design: At the beginning of the 20th century, the design of glass wine bottles was gradually standardized to accommodate trademark labels, closures and stacking requirements, and this standardization helped to improve the consistency and quality of the bottles.
4) Green glass: In the mid-20th century, green glass wine bottles became mainstream because they can effectively protect wine from UV and light damage, a feature that is particularly important for drinks that are susceptible to light, such as wine.
(5) Fine design, environmental trends, new materials and innovation: In recent years, the design of glass wine bottles has become more and more elaborate to meet the needs of different wine brands, and the shape, color and label design of wine bottles have become part of brand positioning and marketing. At the same time, some glass wine bottle manufacturers have started to use recycled glass materials to reduce resource waste. In addition, more attention is being paid to the recyclability of glass wine bottles. In addition, in recent years, some glass wine bottle manufacturers have explored new materials and production techniques to improve the performance of their bottles. This includes lighter glass, drip-proof designs and more effective sealing techniques.
Overall, the glass wine bottle industry has experienced a progression from handmade to industrialized production, from standardized to refined design, and from environmental trends to new materials and innovations. Because of its unique properties and traditional values, glass wine bottles remain one of the mainstream choices for wine packaging, despite competition from other packaging materials.
Focusing on lightweight design, upstream and downstream work together
1、The lightweight design of glass wine bottles has become the focus of attention in the industry
Among the packaging materials for liquor and wine, glass materials occupy 97% of the market share. In the glass production and manufacturing industry, the cost of energy consumption accounts for a large proportion of the overall glass production and manufacturing costs, so for the glass production and manufacturing industry, cutting energy consumption and use will be its highest priority. The lightweight design of glass wine bottles has become a focus of attention in the industry in order to enhance environmental sustainability, reduce transportation costs, and meet the needs of different consumers.
Lightweighting of glass wine bottles refers to reducing the weight of glass bottles and jars through optimized design, adoption of lightweight materials and production processes. According to the Access Conditions for Daily-use Glass Industry issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, lightweight bottles refer to glass bottles and jars with a lightweight degree of no more than 1.0. The lightweight degree is calculated according to a certain formula, involving parameters such as bottle weight and full-mouth capacity.
At present, the glass wine bottles applied to white wine and wine packaging have seen a trend of lightweight. For white wine, through the use of advanced production processes and lightweight materials, the weight of some current bottles has been reduced to about 300 grams, compared with the original average weight of 500 grams has been significantly reduced; wine, Champagne Telmont and the French glass manufacturer Verallia recently completed the test of the Champagne bottle is considered to be the world’s lightest, record weight of only 800 grams, the new bottle weight is only 800 grams. The weight of only 800 grams, the new lighter bottles will produce about 4% less carbon dioxide per bottle produced, which all shows the potential for the development of glass wine bottle packaging products applied to white wine or wine bottles in lightweight. Beer bottles also have a greater potential for development in the lightweight glass bottle and can products. An example of this was given a long time ago: a famous beer brand claimed that the weight of the bottles it used had dropped by 11%, which would save enough energy to power 350 British homes, and at the same time reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 2,000 tons.
In addition to lightweight design, glass wine bottles are also looking to innovate and improve in other ways. For example, some new glass wine bottles are made from recyclable materials, improving environmental friendliness. In addition, in order to meet consumers’ demand for aesthetically pleasing and practical packaging, the design of glass bottles and jars is also improving, with added features such as anti-counterfeiting and easy portability.
2, more and more beer manufacturers began to increase orders for lightweight glass wine bottles
Against the above background, more and more beer manufacturers have started to increase orders for lightweight beer bottles to meet market demand and environmental requirements. At present, both domestic and international beer manufacturers are gradually increasing their orders for lightweight beer bottles. For example, Tsingtao Brewery has begun to use beer bottles with lightweight design to package beer, which not only reduces the weight of bottles, but also lowers production and transportation costs. International beer giants such as Budweiser InBev and Heineken are also gradually promoting the use of lightweight beer bottles. Recently, Huanggang City, Hubei Province, Wuxue City, publication of the river street and Hubei Yue glass Industrial Co., Ltd. signed an annual output of 200,000 tons of lightweight beer bottles and cans and other production projects of the investment agreement, the project is fully in production, the annual output of 200,000 tons of glass bottles and cans to achieve an annual output value of 200 million yuan, annual tax payments of 10 million yuan to create employment opportunities for 300 jobs.
In addition, some glass manufacturing enterprises are also actively exploring lightweight glass bottle production technology. For example, Shandong Jingyao Glass Group has begun to produce lightweight beer bottles, and gradually extended to other glass products. The company’s lightweight beer bottle production line adopts advanced production processes and equipment to reduce the weight of bottles by thinning the walls and optimizing the design of bottles, while keeping the capacity and strength of bottles unchanged.
四, recycling is effective, glass bottles will not be completely replaced in the short term
Due to the advantages of high transparency, stable chemical properties and strong corrosion resistance, glass bottles have always been the preferred containers for the consumption of alcoholic beverages. With the development of society and the changing needs of consumers, other packaging materials such as plastic bottles and cartons have gradually emerged, and the status of glass bottles has been challenged to some extent. Despite the proliferation of new packaging, glass bottles are unlikely to be completely replaced in the short term in the field of liquor packaging, especially in the high-end liquor market, where glass bottles have always occupied an important position. The main reason for this is that the manufacturers of all these new forms of bottles, be they linen, paper or all-plastic, recommend a shelf life of 12-18 months, which is the standard turnaround time in supermarkets. Therefore, wines designed for long-term aging are not applicable to these new forms.
Although there is competition from other packaging materials, such as plastic and aluminum, they have not been able to fully replace glass in some areas. For example, aluminum bottles may have some limitations in terms of clarity and package design; plastics may not have the same oxygen barrier properties, and while glass is fully recyclable, the recycling rate for plastics is still minuscule compared to that of glass. According to RecycleNow, England’s national recycling campaign, glass can be reprocessed indefinitely without loss of quality. Research shows that glass bottles have the potential to be reused, and that an identical bottle can be reused 8-10 times for labeled wine bottles (up to 13 times for unlabeled bottles), and that if glass bottles are reused once, the emissions reduction benefit can reach 40%; reused more than 8 times, the emissions reduction contribution reaches 65%. In addition, calculated by one ton, recycling one ton of waste glass can save 720 kg of quartz sand, 250 kg of soda ash, 60 kg of feldspar powder, use 10 tons of coal less, and save 400 degrees of electricity. One ton of waste glass back to the furnace can regenerate 20,000 500 grams of wine bottles, than the use of new raw materials in the production of cost savings of 20%. According to the European Glass Alliance (Glass Alliance Europe), the current average recycling rate of glass is already as high as 80%. And according to the United Nations Environment Programme, globally, plastic recycling accounts for less than 10 percent of all plastic waste, with about 85 percent of plastics currently ending up in landfills.
In addition, alcohol consumers usually have a long-standing perception and expectation of glass bottles, and they associate high-quality wine with glass bottles. Therefore, brands usually stick to glass bottles to maintain the premium image of their products.
Viewpoints of analysts from Guanyuan: Although the recyclable value of glass wine bottles is high, the manufacturers engaged in glass processing are far from enough to meet the market demand due to the scattered users, few recycling channels, high cost and low revenue, and the recycling price is on the low side, and other countries have similar recycling difficulties, so ensuring the steady development of the glass recycling and reuse industry is a global issue.
