Owens-Illinois (O-I) announced in May that it will begin manufacturing wine bottles weighing as little as 11.6oz for its N American market, up to 27% less than similar bottles in its current product line. O-I already reduced the weight of wine bottles in 2008, when it produced 17oz bottles for California's Fetzer Vineyards, to replace the average 20.3oz bottles then in use. Lightening wine bottles is part of the wine industry's effort to become greener. However, it is not uncommon to find bottles weighing almost four pounds when empty. O-I's choice may also depend on 'green' competition from producers of alternative wine packages such as card and Tetra. The benefits of these include their lightweight & uniform stacking, thus decreasing transportation costs & carbon emissions.
