Australian innovation tackling a recycling blind spot with wine closures
South Australia’s Nepenthe Wines, a certified B Corp and Sustainable Winegrowing Australia member, has introduced a fully recyclable tearaway cap across all still wines. It’s a simple change with significant impact: the new design makes it easy for consumers to separate aluminium from glass, improving recycling rates and reducing landfill waste.
The idea came from a life cycle analysis the winery undertook in 2023, which pinpointed packaging as a key area for improvement. After trialling lighter bottles and recycled paper labels, Nepenthe partnered with capsule supplier Interpack to roll out the CAPR tearaway system.
The new closure system features a split-design capsule that can be easily separated from the glass bottle without affecting the wine seal, and includes clear on-cap instructions to guide consumers. Traditional wine sleeves are often missed during recycling due to poor separation, meaning many end up in landfill despite being made of infinitely recyclable aluminium.
“With something like aluminium, the recycling potential is enormous, but only if it’s sorted properly,” said Tamar Bourke, Senior Brand Manager at Nepenthe. “By making the cap fully removable and guiding people on what to do, we’re making the sustainable choice the easy one.”
With around 75% of all aluminium ever produced still in use today, proper sorting is essential to maximise its environmental benefit. Yet many Australians don’t realise wine closures affect the recyclability of the entire bottle.
After three months of testing to ensure the brand’s standards for product integrity and storage were met, the fully removable aluminium tearaway capsules have been implemented across all Nepenthe’s still wines — a permanent shift aligned with World Environment Day 2025 on 5 June.
The change is part of Nepenthe’s broader sustainability journey. The wine maker has switched to lighter bottles for its Altitude and Elevation ranges and adopted labels made from 100% recycled content. The brand is also exploring the use of 100% recycled glass for its APEX range — although sourcing in Australia remains a challenge, with most suppliers only able to achieve 70–90% recycled content.
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