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The two varieties, Semillion/Chardonnay and Cabernet/Shiraz, will be sold through the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) in two different bottle styles, both featuring aluminum screw caps from G3 Enterprises. The bottles also feature Sig Plasmax, a commercially proven, transparent, internal silicon oxide (SiOx) barrier coating technology that protects the wine inside the bottle and is easily removed during the PET recycling process.

"LCBO works with suppliers to offer more products in alternative packaging, such as PET plastic bottles, because each plastic bottle contains significantly less material than each comparable glass bottle," said Artisan Wine Co VP Operations David Fallis.

"The combination of the PET bottle and screw cap closure give our customers a more convenient, environmentally friendly wine packaging choice. Also, because Ball's PET bottles are approximately one tenth the weight of the average glass bottle, they can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the supply chain, plus the Plasmax barrier coating Ball uses makes these bottles very easy to recycle in the existing PET infrastructure."

Ball is the only North American PET bottle manufacturer to offer Plasmax barrier coating technology and is currently using it in many commercial applications, including wine, beer and flavoured alcoholic beverages. Plasmax provides an FDA compliant, enhanced passive barrier for oxygen sensitive products. This ultra thin (less than 100 nm) material is transparent and resists cracking, abrasion and delamination.

Furthermore, a recycling study conducted according to the European PETCORE protocols demonstrated that Plasmax is removable during the recycling process and does not negatively affect any of the test requirements. These results were shared with the Association of Post-Consumer Plastics Recyclers (APR), the trade industry representing over 90% of the post-consumer plastic processing capacity in North America, which raised no objections to the results.