Three years after their market launch in Europe, the paper bag-in-bottle bottles from Frugalpac (Ipswich, UK; www.frugalpac.com) are now also available in the US, with the California-based Monterey Wine Company (MWC) purchasing a bottle production plant, the UK company announced.

This is the second line on the North American continent after the machine ordered in 2022 by Canadian packaging manufacturer KinsBrae Packaging (Cambridge, Ontario; www.kinsbraegroup.com), which is to start operation around the start of Q4.

Like the existing line at Frugalpac in Ipswich, each of these machines has a production capacity of 2.5 mn bottles. The individual components of the 0.75 l containers are combined in the machines – the bottles in the Bordeaux shape typical for wine are made of recycled cardboard on the outside, an aluminium foil composite is used for the inner foil (similar to a bag-in-box bag), and the neck piece is made of PET. “Our business model is to sell machines so that the bottles can be produced locally,” a company spokesperson told Plasteurope.com.

The pouch and neck constitute 16% of the bottle’s weight, with the carton making up the rest. After use, the bottle can be disassembled into its individual parts and the material fractions disposed of in the respective recycling streams.

Related: Amcor launches wine bottle made from rPET for US market

With a conventional wine bottle, the glass packaging alone accounts for up to 50% of the CO₂ footprint of the entire product. By switching to the lighter version, this value can be reduced by 84%, the company said.

Worldwide, 35 bottlers now use paper versions, not only for wine, but also for spirits and olive oil. According to Frugalpac, further orders for bottle machines have already been placed, including two from Germany, where local supermarket chains Rewe and Edeka have already listed wines filled in paper bottles from Italian winery Cantina Goccia.

Frugalpac currently employs 28 people, with turnover expected to exceed EUR 7 mn this year, according to the company.