Meet the innovative wine bottle made from paper

Meet the Frugal bottle – which is being promoted as the most important innovation for wine and spirits since the launch of the glass bottle.

The 75cl Frugal bottle is made from 94% recycled paperboard with a food-grade liner to hold the wine or spirit. It can be refrigerated and keeps liquid cooler for longer than glass.

The Frugal bottle, which is comparable in cost to a labelled glass bottle, is the brainchild of British sustainable packaging firm Frugalpac, which creates and supplies recycled paper-based products with low carbon footprints that are easily recycled again so they don’t need to go to landfill. 

The Frugal bottles are made at Frugalpac’s facility in Ipswich.The paper wine bottle, known as the has been pitched as a lighter and more environmentally friendly alternative to glass.

At 83 grams, Frugalpac says its bottle is up to five times lighter than a regular glass wine bottle and that major supermarkets in the UK are considering the packaging. The design also allows for 360-degree branding across the bottle.

The bottle’s debut is the latest in a series of initiatives designed to shrink the wine industry’s impact on the environment, from recycled plastic bottles to lighter-weight glass and shipping more wine in bulk.

While there is some plastic involved, the company said that its Frugal bottle uses "up to 77% less" than a plastic bottle and that the plastic lining is recyclable.

The first wine released with the Frugal bottle is Cantina Goccia, 3Q 2017, a sangiovese, merlot and cabernet blend. 

‘We’ve had fantastic feedback from people who’ve trialled the Frugal bottle,’ Malcolm Waugh, Frugalpac’s CEO, said.

"As well as the superior environmental benefits, it looks and feels like no other bottle you have ever seen."

The downside?  It is  hard to tell how much you’ve drunk, because you can’t see through the packaging.

See www.frugalpac.com/