Bringing a bit of European small-time organization across the pond, a US/Dutch resident of Oregon is launching a startup to allow wine drinkers to bring bottles back to wineries for a refill.

Such infrastructure exists in Europe, but in the US, where 765 million glass bottles are used every year in the wine industry, only one-third are even recycled, much less reused.

The company is called Revino, and they collect, wash, and sanitize the bottles before removing labels and returning them to wineries to be refilled. The design is imprinted with a leaf to help customers identify them, and they are also tailor-made to fit into existing automatic filling machines.

Customers can either take them directly to wineries for a refill or deposit the bottles at collection points at liquor stores and recycling facilities.

"What we really identified is simplicity: We can't make it complicated for people to return things," said Keenan O'Hern, cofounder of the startup. "We can't make it out of the way, because they're just not going to do it."

The manufacturing process produces bottles that are rated for 50 reuses, which can reduce the bottle's overall carbon footprint by 85%, even if it meets just one-third of that total.

There are many major companies already using recycled materials in the beverage industry, but Revino wants to prove what's possible with small producers, and after their 2024 spring launch in Oregon wineries, O'Hern wants to move into Northern California where there are many small wineries with a lot of local consumption.

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