Alentejo wine region launches lightweight bottle to cut emissions

The Alentejo Regional Wine Commission (CVRA) has introduced the ‘Garrafa Leve’ (Lightweight Bottle), a 390-gram glass bottle designed to reduce environmental impact and production costs for the region's wine producers.

Developed in partnership with the Portuguese subsidiary of the Spanish glassware company Verallia, the bottle is significantly lighter than the current market average of 550 grams. It also falls below the 420-gram threshold established by the Sustainable Wine Roundtable. The CVRA estimates that if an annual production of 50 million bottles is reached, the initiative could save approximately 1,500 tonnes of glass and prevent 1,200 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The new packaging is compatible with high-speed bottling lines exceeding 10,000 bottles per hour. Beyond sustainability, the CVRA expects the bottle to reduce production, logistics, and transport costs by roughly 2%. CVRA President Luís Sequeira noted that the initiative aims to align regional competitiveness with international sustainability standards, benefiting both large producers and small viticulturists through economies of scale.