Sounds like a classic contradiction in terms when you first hear it. But the paper beverage bottle is a real ‘thing. And it’s the most ambitious effort I’ve yet seen to ‘get the plastic out’ of our environment. I just wonder how consumers will feel about it?
It looks, at first glance, like one of those fancy European wine pr spirits bottles, wrapped or ‘shroud-ed’ in some kind of fibre or parchment material to distinguish it from the premium-priced compe-tition. But the colour and texture of the containers’ outer surfaces are ‘natural’ to the material they’re made from. And richly textured compared to the smooth glass you’re used to.
In fact, the product may be closer to a pulp-fibre egg tray or a Fast Food 4-cup beverage ‘tote’.
Nevertheless… I’m fascinated with it. How does it not get soggy and disintegrate when filled with liquid? For now, at least, the answers to those and other engrossing questions remain the maker’s prorietary secrets…
And how does it stand up to the trials and travails of travel – i.e.- shipping before purchase, and the trip home after?
Like a milk carton
The first time you heft one, reviewers say, be prepared for it to feel much lighter than you’re used to. Paper is much lighter than traditional glass. It’s also flexible. And as such, may remind you of a card-board milk carton. But extensive testing and actual use have proven the paper wine bottle is up to the challenge.
Sustainability the game…
The product’s name is The Frugal Bottle, made by Frugalpac, and sustainability is the game. It’s a fully recyclable paper bottle made from 94 percent recycled materials. The design is five times lighter than glass, and reduces carbon emissions by up to 84 percent.
“Glass has long been the default for wine — but it’s also one of the industry’s most carbon-intensive materials.,” a recent Food & Wine feature reveals. “According to the California Sustainable Wine-growing Alliance, packaging can make up as much as 40% of a wine’s total carbon footprint — with glass as the biggest factor. ”
Target is paying its respects to sustainability with the new bottle, featuring it as packaging for 4 new wines in the chain’s Collective Good collection. The line offers a selection of imported varietals including: a California Cabernet Sauvignon, a Red Blend from Spain, a Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, and a Pinot Grigio from Italy.
My take
If the Frugal Bottle is accepted by consumers in its 1.200-store Target début, it’s hoped the glass-replacement will be adopted by packagers of a wider variety liquid food products. That, Target says, would be ‘a category-shifting move’ — one that suggests truly sustainable packaging may finally be going main-stream.
A number of approaches to paper-based packaging or liquids – notably disposable Fast Food bev-erage cups – have been proposed. But until now all have proven dead ends. Either because they were imperfect or impractical. Let’s see how far the Frugal Bottle concept can actually go toward the main-stream…
Maggie J.