As New York state lawmakers consider a push to put more responsibility on businesses that use glass, plastic and other materials for packaging their products to reduce usage, business students at Cornell University are studying a plan to help Finger Lakes wineries to reach that goal. It’s a work in progress — with many questions still unanswered.
Along the shores of Cayuga Lake, Frontenac Point Vineyard & Estate Winery is one of the region’s oldest wine destinations.
“We’re a small winery,” said Carol Doolittle, who opened Frontenac Point with husband Jim in 1979. “We do everything by hand.”
From bottling to labeling to harvesting, the winery in Trumansburg is a small family operation.
“The grapes are dumped in the crusher,” she explained. “There’s really no automation.”
The Doolittles are paying close attention to New York’s proposed recycling bill, designed to lessen the amount of packaging waste going into landfills. Extended Producer Responsibility legislation would put the onus on wineries and other alcohol producers with net annual incomes over one million dollars to reduce packaging, while paying fees to help boost municipal recycling programs.
“I think it's an excellent idea,” said Doolittle, who recently spoke on behalf of the industry at hearings in Albany. “The legislators behind it really care. They care about the producers, as well as the environmental impact.”
Producing about 6,000 bottles a year, Frontenac Point falls below the $1 million threshold. For wineries, bottles are at the center of the issue. Recycling or reusing them comes with challenges.
Cornell University students are working on a possible solution. They’re looking into whether a bottle-washing facility would be feasible.
“Managing the bottles is certainly something a lot of people are cognizant of currently,” said Brad Treat, a professor at Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business. “In New York state, there's not actually redemption on wine bottles.”
Three teams of students are developing plans for a startup bottle-washing facility, which they pitched to winery owners at the end of the semester. For students, it’s been a learning experience.
“I had no idea that there was no facility at all in New York state,” said senior Samantha Groark. “And with this lack of infrastructure, and being unsupported, I think now's the time to take initiative.”
“What stood out as interesting to me is the real need for bottle standardization,” said fellow senior Aishwarya Babuji. “I think that's the only one of the biggest ways of making a central bottle washing facility feasible.”
Similar bottle-washing and reuse facilities are up and running in California and Oregon. Doolittle believes any startup would have to include public and private funding. She wonders how wineries will retrieve empty wine bottles.
“If you buy a case or a bottle or three and you take it to Rochester, where are you going to recycle that?” she asked. “How are you going to get that back to the winery?”
The Cornell students are working to find those answers. Many in the Finger Lakes wine industry — will be listening.
“Yeah, it's a dilemma,” said Doolittle. “But as you say, the extended producer responsibility is going to push people to be more creative.