Jun 23, 2026 · 17 min · 9 segments
In this *From the Roundtable* episode, I’m joined by SWR's Toby Webb, Dr Peter Stanbury, and Delaney Sheridan to reflect on SWR's fifth year anniversary. We reflect on our progress to date, looking…
Peter StanburyGuest
Toby WebbGuest
Delaney SheridanGuestHannah HalmariHostAny kind of sustainability work is an iterative dynamic process and the work is really never ending.
And it's kind of like the more you learn, the more you find out about what you don't know.
Well, first of all, Toby's probably neglected the most seminal moment of the formation of SWR, which is a rather splendid lunch that he and I had in 2022 in Lisbon, where we hatched out a lot of the areas of activity that subsequently became our action areas.
I mean, the issue is what actually do we mean by sustainability in wine? You know, it's a lovely expression, but what does that actually mean in practice? And so the development of the global reference framework, which builds on all the work that Toby and I have done in other sectors about what does sustainability entail and how does that apply to wine? draws on what's going on in wine sustainability standards, but also what goes on in coffee, tea, consumer goods.
Pulling that together as a statement of this is what sustainability looks like, obviously that evolves over time.
But then using that as a basis for benchmarking all of the various wine sustainability standards in the world.
And when we've done that, that will provide a real reference point for retailers, for anyone who wants to know which of the standards out there are reliable, trustworthy, credible, and which aren't.
That's one thing I think we really have to hang our hat on and say that's a really important thing to have done.
Now, forget what it's achieved in the reduction of carbon and the cost savings, although those are both pretty consequential.
Had all the weight savings been achieved under the cost regime of the UK EPR scheme, those participants would have saved themselves 58 million pounds.
But aside from the specific achievements, I think what we have done with the Bottle Weight Accord is demonstrate the value and the ability to make real change of a collaborative approach.
The bottle weight accord was the first industry-wide process anywhere in the world on any topic to address the issue of carbon reduction and packaging.
I think, therefore, demonstrating that collective piece, really, I think the bottle weight accord has demonstrated the power of collective action.
So I think those are two I'd pull out as particularly important points from my side.
Any kind of sustainability work is an iterative dynamic process and the work is really never ending.
And it's kind of like the more you learn, the more you find out about what you don't know.
Well, first of all, Toby's probably neglected the most seminal moment of the formation of SWR, which is a rather splendid lunch that he and I had in 2022 in Lisbon, where we hatched out a lot of the areas of activity that subsequently became our action areas.
I mean, the issue is what actually do we mean by sustainability in wine? You know, it's a lovely expression, but what does that actually mean in practice? And so the development of the global reference framework, which builds on all the work that Toby and I have done in other sectors about what does sustainability entail and how does that apply to wine? draws on what's going on in wine sustainability standards, but also what goes on in coffee, tea, consumer goods.
Pulling that together as a statement of this is what sustainability looks like, obviously that evolves over time.
But then using that as a basis for benchmarking all of the various wine sustainability standards in the world.
And when we've done that, that will provide a real reference point for retailers, for anyone who wants to know which of the standards out there are reliable, trustworthy, credible, and which aren't.
That's one thing I think we really have to hang our hat on and say that's a really important thing to have done.
Now, forget what it's achieved in the reduction of carbon and the cost savings, although those are both pretty consequential.
Had all the weight savings been achieved under the cost regime of the UK EPR scheme, those participants would have saved themselves 58 million pounds.
But aside from the specific achievements, I think what we have done with the Bottle Weight Accord is demonstrate the value and the ability to make real change of a collaborative approach.
The bottle weight accord was the first industry-wide process anywhere in the world on any topic to address the issue of carbon reduction and packaging.
I think, therefore, demonstrating that collective piece, really, I think the bottle weight accord has demonstrated the power of collective action.
So I think those are two I'd pull out as particularly important points from my side.
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