Protecting and regenerating our environment

We know that biodiversity is being lost all over the world, yet it plays an important role in retaining the natural balance of the vineyard. We need to reverse that loss to ensure the long-term health of vineyards and surrounding communities, as well as helping to tackle climate change. 

That’s why we have an ambitious plan to enhance biodiversity, minimise use of resources, and strive for zero waste, so we protect and regenerate the natural world we rely on. 

Caring for the environment

The first step is to tackle the environmental impact of our own operations, which includes reducing packaging, energy usage and waste. 

Reducing bottle weight

In our last annual report, we estimated that our average 75cl still bottle weighed 465g. Over the past year we have done a huge amount of work to gather more accurate packaging data – a big job considering in an average year we sell 11,000 wines and vintages from around 900 suppliers. As a result, we now know that, as of January 2024, our average bottle weights are:

• 468g for still
• 769g for sparkling
• 417g for The Society’s own-label range
• 514g for our Exhibition own-label range.

From the 2027 vintage, we have committed to ensuring that our entire range of still wines is put in lightweight bottles below 420g, avoiding around 600 tCO2 per year. Currently 40% of our total still wine range is in bottles below 420g, and we are working on getting that to 60% by the end of 2025.
As an example, this year:

• The Society's Australian Shiraz has moved from a 465g bottle to a 376g bottle this vintage – which removes 14 tonnes of glass from our supply chain each year
• Château de la Grave’s ‘Caractère' has moved from a 630g bottle down to 400g, removing 730kg of glass from our supply chain.

Increased use of lower carbon, alternative packaging

In 2023 we trialled six of our core lines in Bag-in-Box. To date we have sold well over 18,000 BiBs (equivalent to 55,000 bottles). We also trialled four wines in flat rPET bottles. These bottles are made from 100% recycled PET plastic, weighing just 63g compared to an average of 468g for glass bottles, and like BiBs, can significantly lower carbon emissions from transportation.

The use of BiB and rPET bottles reduced the packaging weight of the wine sold in our trial by about 15 tonnes. This weight difference alone could reduce the onward transport emissions of the wine sold in our trial by 31%* over a 62-mile (100km) journey, compared to the same amount of wine in glass bottles, not to mention savings also from increased space efficiency by using less bulky packaging.

For more information, read our Alternative Packaging Report.

Improved recycling

Over the last year we have:

• introduced a new process to separate all the wood waste in our warehouse (such as from broken pallets or wooden wine boxes) so it can be collected separately, chipped and sent for recycling
• improved segregation practices even further for our recyclable waste so our plastic wrap, glass, dry recycling, cardboard and food waste are all collected separately, meaning they can be more easily recycled by our waste management provider
• started to move away from using black plastic wrap wherever possible, which is not recyclable, and instead using a clear, recyclable version
• introduced a cork recycling scheme for all our members.

We also need to tackle the harmful environmental impacts outside of our direct operations. We will actively champion sustainable production practices throughout our agricultural supply chain, supporting our growers and producers to take a ‘whole vineyard’ approach that encourages regeneration, resilience and responsibility. This means improving soil health and encouraging biodiversity, reducing water, waste, chemical inputs and energy and helping producers become more resilient to the changing world. 
  
We will do this by investing in our suppliers, such as setting up mechanisms to increase collaboration and learning, as well as providing financial and advisory support for more of our producers to achieve sustainability certifications. 
  
We believe thriving vineyards in tune with nature will continue to improve wine quality, meaning future members will also be able to enjoy bottles that taste delicious and reflect a sense of place.  

For more information, view our sustainability section.