South Africa is taking a number of steps to maintain its status as one of the world's most eco-progressive winemaking nations. One of these is the introduction of lighter bottles to help reduce the industry's carbon footprint.

From this year, 750ml wine bottles closed with screwcaps and weighing only 350 grams - as compared to 500 grams for traditional bottles - will be available to local wine producers.

"As we raise our export volumes of mostly bottled wines, we also increase our carbon emissions, so it becomes a delicate balancing act to enhance our sustainability profile while pushing up our output," Wines of South Africa (Wosa) CEO Su Birch said in a statement this week.

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