Greencroft Two wine bottling facility opens with focus on sustainability

By James Bayley

Published: 04 October, 2024

Greencroft Two, a new £21m wine bottling plant, has opened in the UK, promising to raise the bar for sustainability in the industry. The 240,000 sq ft facility, now home to Greencroft Bottling, can handle up to 400 million litres of wine annually once fully operational.

The plant’s standout feature is its environmental approach, with a £5.5m investment in green technology. A 3 MW solar system, made up of 5,700 panels, is installed on the roof, generating nearly 3 million kWh of electricity each year. This setup, combined with three on-site wind turbines, will produce around 8 million kWh of renewable energy per year – enough to power all the operations within the Lanchester Group, which owns the facility.

“Greencroft Two is, in my opinion, the most sustainable wine bottling facility on the planet,” said Tony Cleary, CEO of Lanchester Group. “Our goal is for all the power generated by our turbines and solar panels to be used within the group, cutting our reliance on external sources. The next step is to install a 2.5 MWh battery storage system next year to help manage supply and demand.”

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Cleary believes that businesses need to step up and take responsibility for reducing their environmental impact: “We think every business should do what it can to cut fossil fuel use. We’re a family business – if we can do it, so can others.”

The building is the first to use advanced thermal insulation, with a U-Value of 0.12 W/m²K, making it highly energy-efficient. The Lanchester Group’s sustainability strategy also includes installing solar panels at other sites, using geothermal energy and deploying air source heat pumps.

Greencroft Two’s launch is the latest move in the group’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, which has been recognised with several industry awards. The company has also been shortlisted for The Grocer’s Sustainable Packaging Awards for its ultra-light 300g Verallia Bordelaise Air wine bottle, as it seeks to tackle environmental challenges across its entire supply chain.

The Lanchester Group, which includes Lanchester Wines (a Partner signatory to Harpers Sustainability Charter), Spicers of Hythe, Full Circle Brew Co and Bon Bon’s Confectionery, plans to continue pushing for sustainable practices across its operations.

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