Context

The wine industry has always used glass in its containers. Glass offers numerous advantages: it is clean, impermeable and does not contribute any type of taste or odor to the product contained. It is therefore a perfect material to contain such a sensitive liquid as wine.
The Packaging Law 11/1997 establishes the obligation for packaging companies to ensure the recycling of the packaging they place on the market and to develop waste prevention plans. In order to comply with these obligations and contribute to the principles of circular economy, ECOVIDRIO was created in Spain as the Collective System of Extended Producer Responsibility (SCRAP) to which operators adhere by means of an economic contribution: the well-known green dot. Since its creation, Spanish wineries have adhered to this collective system. Recycling avoids both the extraction of raw materials and the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere, and also represents a significant energy saving. The efficient use of resources is also a key aspect of the EU's Europe 2020 Strategy "From farm to fork". As the world's economy grows and the population increases, the Earth's natural resources are being depleted at a rapid rate.
The reuse process is based on a model in which, once the product has been consumed, the container is returned to the packager through a system that includes collection, washing and transport to the origin to be used again. Currently in Spain the reuse of glass bottles is implemented in the beverage sector, but only in the HORECA sector. In the wine sector, the reuse of glass bottles is quite complex. However, a glass bottle can be reused between 40 and 60 times with an energy cost of 5% compared to the cost of recycling.