Wine Bottle Reuse For Ontario Wineries
How It Started
While working to bring reuse to the grocery market, Circulr was approached by a Niagara based winery about if our reuse processes could be applied to the wine industry. Stratus Vineyards, a sustainably minded winery based in Niagara-On-The-Lakehad already worked hard to make their winery as sustainable as possible through gravity flow operations, LEED building certification, and more. Their next step was to amke their packaging as sustinable as posisble through the age old practice of reuse.
In 2023 Stratus collected 50 cases of empty bottles that had been poured for customers in their tasting room. These bottles were collected, delabeled and washed by Circulr, then sent back to Stratus to refill with a wine from their 2023 bottling year. The result of the project was a first the first wine commerically bottled in Ontario using reused bottles.
Expanding Wine Bottle Reuse
Tasting Room Pilots
Similar to the original Stratus pilot described above, this year we will be undertaking additional "Tasting Room Bottle Reuse" projects with 5-10 Niagara based wineries. We will be reusing over 10,000 bottles this year to further prove that reusing bottles is a feasible and sustainably superior way for wineries to manage their bottles. As these proejcts are completed we will be sharing more information about them on this page and on our social media accounts.
Niagara Region Reusable bottle
As we complete our tasting room pilots later this year we will also begin a "Reusable From First Fill" project. Here we will be distributing batches of a specially made reusable wine bottle to 20+ wineries in the Niagara region. These bottles will be filled and sold in Niagara and once emptied will be be collected, washed, and delabeled by CIrculr in order to redistribute them to wineries so they can be refilled and reused over and over again.
Industry Wide Reusable Bottle
Our regional "Reusable From First Fill" project will be a proof of concept for a province wide reusable bottle. We will be working with wineries from across Ontario's wine regions, as well as industry groups and government to set up an Industry Standard Reusable Bottle (ISRB) for wine that mirrors the successful industry standard beer bottle being used and reused by brewers across Ontario. This standard reusable bottle for wine will help to greatly increase the industries sustainability, give Ontario wines an edge over imports, and help drive down costs for individual wineries.
In each of these steps, we will be looking for support from wineries, industry groups, non-profits, and consumers. If you’re interested in supporting any of the projects outlined above, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@circulr.ca or schedule a meeting with us below!