Packamama awarded AU$1 million government grant to decarbonise Australian wine packaging
The Australian Government has awarded Packamama AU$1 million (~USD 654,000) under the Business Research and Innovation Initiative (BRII) Proof-of-Concept Round to develop next-generation circular polymer wine bottles designed to protect wine quality, reduce carbon emissions and strengthen the competitiveness of Australian wine domestically and internationally. The grant follows an earlier AU$100,000 (~USD 65,200) BRII feasibility award that supported Packamama’s initial study demonstrating technical viability and potential emissions savings.
The project, which received Grant Funding from the Australian Government, builds on Packamama’s success in that feasibility stage, where simulations and laboratory studies indicated wine preservation potential of around four years using advancements in its proprietary material stack. Independent life cycle analyses confirmed that Packamama’s 100% rPET bottles cut emissions by more than half compared to traditional glass bottles, while being lighter, shatterproof and fully recyclable through existing systems.
Packamama is one of two Proof-of-Concept recipients selected from six feasibility-stage participants in the BRII “Alternative Packaging for Australian Wine” challenge. Over the next 18 months, the company will undertake material trials, recyclability testing and consumer research to validate the bottle developments. Retail collaborations are being explored in Australia and the UK, following earlier listings with Coles in Australia and Tesco and Aldi in the UK.
Cutting carbon emissions
According to the Australian Wine Research Institute’s (AWRI) 2022 life cycle assessment (LCA), 74 per cent of the wine industry’s total emissions stem from the making, moving, and recycling of glass bottles. A 2025 LCA by the AWRI’s Affinity Labs found that Packamama bottles can cut emissions by up to 56 per cent and that exporting wine in Packamama bottles produces 32 per cent less CO₂ than bulk export, proving a major opportunity to decarbonise Australia’s 1.5 billion-bottle-a-year sector while protecting jobs in Australia.
The work directly supports Wine Australia’s Emissions Reduction Roadmap, targeting a 42 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050, while aligning with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s pledge at the recent UN Climate Summit in New York for Australia to reduce emissions by up to 70 per cent by 2035.