Rebottled | From wine bottle to drinking glass
At Rebottled they believe that upcycling is the new recycling. They extend the lifespan of wine bottles by making drinking glasses at a workplace of the Salvation Army in Utrecht, The Netherlands. In addition, they employ people who do have difficulties trying to get a job, which improves the social environment of these people. With their idea they won the PwC Social Impact Lab and public award in October. They have also been nominated for the Horecava Innovation Award 2018.
Rebottled | How does it work?
One of the customers of Rebottled is restaurant LE:EN in Utrecht. At this Asian restaurant you can go for all kinds of small dishes that you can share together. Dishes from all kinds of Asian countries such as Japan, Thailand, China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Korea, Sri Lanka, etc.. Here, someone from the Salvation Army collects empty wine bottles every week. After having been processed into drinking glasses, restaurant LE: EN buys a part of the glasses. But also ‘Kwestie van Smaak’ (Matter of Taste), a wine and whiskey trade shop in Utrecht uses the drinking glasses for the whiskey tastings they organize.
Rebottled | The story
In 2016 Jermain van de Graaff founded the company Rebottled. His vision: combating waste of empty wine bottles in an as sustainable and social way as possible. He works together with the Salvation Army and during 2017 he has attracted a COO and 2 CMO’s. According to the numbers on their website, 13 people now work at Rebottled and 1214 empty wine bottles have been ‘saved’. That is 273.15 kilos less glass waste! We wish the team every success with their nomination for the Horecava Innovation Award 2018.
Website: Rebottled
