In the second part of our blog on sustainability, Dave Anning asked Mike about the day-to-day business of delivering wine throughout the Southwest and what he was doing to limit his business' impact on the environment.
Given the carbon footprint of importing and exporting wine, we do our best to try and exert some control over our emissions when we deliver to our customers. We have been using EVs for a couple of years now (if you see them out and about, they’re labeled Van Blanc and Van Rouge!), and we intend to continue down the electric route, although an increase in range might help us take that step more easily.
We also recycle materials where we can. All of our packaging is recyclable, including the tape we use on cases of wine. Some years ago, we invested in a cardboard compressor made by a local company, which allows us to crush the considerable amounts of cardboard that pass through the business, producing compact bales that are easily transported and recycled. All of our waste is taken away by Devon Contract Waste, who recycle 68% of our recovered waste and the rest is nuked for energy.
Perhaps ironically the one thing we don’t recycle much of is glass because the wine arrives and leaves in bottles - so I’m afraid it’s up to our customers to recycle them!
