Short answer
Designers should focus on material innovation for packaging and explore energy-efficient processes within the winery, while also advocating for more comprehensive environmental assessment frameworks.
- Field
- Sustainability
- Source
- Applied Sciences (2026)
- Method
- Systematic Literature Review
- Evidence
- Strong effect
Packaging, particularly glass bottles, and viticultural inputs like fertilizers and pesticides are the primary drivers of environmental impact in sparkling wine production. This sustainability research insight is drawn from a 2026 study published in Applied Sciences. Using Systematic literature review, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: Designers should focus on material innovation for packaging and explore energy-efficient processes within the winery, while also advocating for more comprehensive environmental assessment frameworks.
Sparkling Wine Production's Environmental Footprint: Packaging and Viticulture Dominate Impact
Packaging, particularly glass bottles, and viticultural inputs like fertilizers and pesticides are the primary drivers of environmental impact in sparkling wine production.
Applied Sciences · 2026
Key Findings
- 01Environmental hotspots are consistently identified in viticultural inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, fuel), winery energy consumption, packaging (especially glass bottles), and distribution.
- 02Packaging, particularly glass bottle production, can account for up to 55-60% of the total environmental impact.
- 03Carbon footprint typically ranges from 0.9 to 1.9 kg CO2eq per bottle.
- 04Significant methodological heterogeneity exists across studies regarding functional units, system boundaries, and impact assessment methods.
- 05Stages specific to sparkling wine production, such as secondary fermentation and aging, are underrepresented in LCA studies.
Application
Design takeaway
Designers should focus on material innovation for packaging and explore energy-efficient processes within the winery, while also advocating for more comprehensive environmental assessment frameworks.
How to apply
When designing new beverage packaging or optimizing production processes, conduct a preliminary LCA to identify potential environmental hotspots, focusing on packaging materials, energy inputs, and agricultural sourcing.
Project actions
- 01When choosing materials for a product, research their full life cycle environmental impact, not just their immediate cost or appearance.
- 02Consider the energy and resource inputs required for manufacturing and distribution as part of your design decisions.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Comprehensive search strategy following PRISMA guidelines.
- +Systematic synthesis of multiple LCA studies provides a broad overview of the field.
Limitations
The review highlights that LCA studies can be limited by what they choose to include (system boundaries) and how they measure impact, meaning results might not tell the whole story.
Reliability & validity
The reliability of the findings is supported by the systematic review methodology. However, validity may be limited by the heterogeneity of the included studies' methodologies and system boundaries, making direct comparisons challenging.
Think critically
Given the methodological heterogeneity and underrepresentation of certain production stages, how can designers ensure their environmental impact assessments are robust and reliable for decision-making?
Design Principles
"Minimize the environmental impact of packaging and upstream resource consumption in product life cycles."
Understanding these environmental hotspots is crucial for designers and producers aiming to reduce the ecological footprint of their products. Focusing on sustainable packaging solutions and optimizing agricultural practices can lead to significant environmental gains.
What This Means for Your Design
Making sparkling wine creates pollution, mostly from making the glass bottles and from the farming of grapes. Designers should try to use less material for bottles or find better ways to grow grapes.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use the findings on packaging and viticulture as evidence to justify design choices aimed at reducing environmental impact in your design project.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
This systematic review of sparkling wine production highlights that packaging, particularly glass bottles, and viticultural inputs are significant environmental hotspots, accounting for a substantial portion of the carbon footprint. This underscores the importance of considering the entire product lifecycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life, when making design decisions to minimize environmental impact.
Source
Applied Sciences
Environmental Performance of Sparkling Wine Production Across the Value Chain—A Systematic Review of LCA Studies
journal · 2026
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about sparkling wine production's environmental footprint: packaging and viticulture dominate impact?
- Designers should focus on material innovation for packaging and explore energy-efficient processes within the winery, while also advocating for more comprehensive environmental assessment frameworks. Evidence: Applied Sciences (2026).
- Why does "Sparkling Wine Production's Environmental Footprint: Packaging and Viticulture Dominate Impact" matter for design?
- Understanding these environmental hotspots is crucial for designers and producers aiming to reduce the ecological footprint of their products. Focusing on sustainable packaging solutions and optimizing agricultural practices can lead to significant environmental gains.
- How can designers apply this research?
- Designers should focus on material innovation for packaging and explore energy-efficient processes within the winery, while also advocating for more comprehensive environmental assessment frameworks.
- What were the main findings?
- Environmental hotspots are consistently identified in viticultural inputs (fertilizers, pesticides, fuel), winery energy consumption, packaging (especially glass bottles), and distribution.. Packaging, particularly glass bottle production, can account for up to 55-60% of the total environmental impact.. Carbon footprint typically ranges from 0.9 to 1.9 kg CO2eq per bottle.. Significant methodological heterogeneity exists across studies regarding functional units, system boundaries, and impact assessment methods.
- What research method was used?
- Systematic Literature Review.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Strong effect, based on a 2026 journal from Applied Sciences.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When designing new beverage packaging or optimizing production processes, conduct a preliminary LCA to identify potential environmental hotspots, focusing on packaging materials, energy inputs, and agricultural sourcing.
- What are the limitations?
- Methodological heterogeneity across studies, partial system boundaries, and underrepresentation of specific sparkling wine production stages limit the completeness and comparability of findings.