Sustainability has been more than an afterthought for Barossa-based winemaker Henschke, and its efforts this year saw it recognised as joint winner of the Food & Beverage (small) category at the Australian Packaging Covenant Awards.
Quality and safety manager Tim Hackett says sustainability has always been important to Henschke Cellars.
“The company already had a good corporate conscience and very good practices, but initial poor record-keeping meant it was hard to quantify,” he said.
“We needed a person to drive the commitment, and my appointment as the quality, safety and environment manager provided that opportunity.
“We started gathering data from throughout the company to help start record-keeping practices nearly three years ago.”
Henschke also recently hired a new marketing manager, Justine Henschke, and formed an APC team to further drive the sustainability commitment, which is now included in its company objectives.
“We are currently pursuing ISO14001:2015 accreditation, which will be complete by the end of this year,” Hackett said.
“This provides an external auditing element to help drive change into the future.”
Getting glass down
Henschke has been a signatory to the APC since 2001. Five years ago its APC score was 3/5, and the last two years it has been 4.3/5.
It has achieved its improved rating through such measures as a a 2700L white wine keg trial which saw it reduce glass usage by 1907kg, aluminium by 14.85g, and cardboard by 173.7kg.
The kegs, which contain 60% recycled content, are also returned for recycling after use. One keg holds the equivalent volume of 40 bottles.
Packaging weight per pallet was reduced from 44 per cent to four per cent (396kg to 60kg) and wine volume per pallet increased from 56 per cent to 96 per cent (504L to 1440L).
This makes for a significant reduction in freight costs and fuel usage.
The 'KeyKeg', which is distributed by Lion in Australia, uses compressed air, not CO2, for dispensing, and has won numerous packaging awards.
Recycling goals
Hackett estimates Henschke recycles over 90 per cent of all its waste. It uses onsite solar to reduce energy use and is investigating expanding this program.
“We even recycle polystyrene foam with an Adelaide manufacturer,” he said.
“All green waste goes back into compost for the vineyards.
“We use rainwater on-site and treated effluent water from the winery goes onto one of our vineyards mixed with run-off water.
Into the future, the company's focus is on establishing Sustainable Australia Winery (SAW) systems in its vineyards.
“Our plans include increasing the recycled content of our packaging and office supplies and meeting with various external parties to discuss areas we might be able to improve,” Hackett said.
A key to better wine
Key Kegs are one-way, fully recyclable kegs which make it possible for winemakers to use less packaging materials. Winemaker Mike Symons estimates they save six tonnes of materials for every 1000 dozen bottles, and the company is aiming to save up to 30 tonnes of packaging in the next two to three years using this system. A 30-litre keg makes for 200 standard glass pours.
