As the Australian wine sector moves towards its emissions reduction targets, six innovative packaging solutions for premium wine have been awarded Federal Government grants to test their feasibility.
The grants have been issued as part of the Business Research and Innovation Initiative (BRII) – Renewables and Low Emissions Round, managed by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. BRII provides funding to startups and SMEs to develop innovative solutions for government policy and service delivery challenges.
Alternative packaging for premium Australian wine was among three challenges of the Renewables and Low Emissions Round.
The BRII grants were awarded to six companies for their proposed solutions:
- Margaret River Winery Pty Ltd
- Development of quality biopolymers for sustainable wine packaging
- Dr AHA Data and AI Technology Pty Ltd
- Artificial Intelligence systems for managing defects in glass production to reduce carbon emissions
- Delivery Happiness International Pty Ltd
- Sustainable eco flat PET bottles for premium Australian wines and beyond
- Wine One Pty Ltd
- Development and feasibility of Eco Steel wine bottles for wine
- Bravu Pty Ltd
- Eco friendly soft plastic pouch packaging solutions for wine
- Phantm Pty Ltd
- Development of novel natural polymer materials for wine packaging
The technical and commercial feasibility of these solutions will be tested over three months. Grant recipients who successfully demonstrate the feasibility of their solutions may be invited to apply for a further grant to develop a proof of concept and prototype.
Dr Martin Cole, Wine Australia CEO, said the Australian grape and wine sector had a goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, with a 42 per cent reduction by 2030.
“The manufacture of wine packaging and the transport of packaged wine account for around 70 per cent of the Australian wine industry’s carbon emissions with heavy glass bottles being the main contributor,” he said.
“Although the current alternatives to heavy glass bottles, such as lightweight glass bottles, bag-in-box, aluminium cans and PET plastic produce lower emissions, the best innovations in sustainable packaging are yet to come. Wine Australia would like the Australian wine sector to be at the forefront of these developments,” said Cole.
“Wine Australia thanks the Australian Government for funding the feasibility phase of these six potential alternatives to heavy glass bottles. Innovative products such as these are critical to the grape and wine sector achieving its net zero goal.”