Innovation Zone Snapshot – Australian milk bottle made from 50% recycled plastic

ThePackHub Innovation Zone Snapshot

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#1 Australian milk bottle made from 50% recycled plastic

Visy is an American-Australian packaging company that claims to be a global leader in packaging and resource recovery. Following a $29 million (£16.45m) investment in a state-of-the-art recycling facility, it says it is able to produce a milk bottle manufactured from 50% recycled plastic. The investment is said to be diverting up to 1.9 billion plastic bottles from landfill and export each year, and keeping more plastics in the circular economy to be re-made locally into food grade products. Previously milk bottles manufactured at the Visy facility only contained a maximum of 20% recycled material. Visy currently recycles around 98,000 tonnes of plastic annually, most of which is derived from kerbside collections. The new process is said to have taken a great deal of development but has now been approved for food grade recycling.

#2 Refillable glass bottle switch in French hospitality sector

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) France plans to distribute all of its packaged beverages to hotels, restaurants and cafes in returnable glass bottles by the end of 2022. Coca-Cola says the new bottles can be refilled up to 25 times, saving more than 15 million single-use glass bottles and the associated energy use. The 250 ml returnable glass bottle will be used for the Fuze Tea, Tropico, Sprite, Fanta and Minute Maid brands. They join the Coca-Cola Original, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Cherry brands in their iconic 330 ml glass bottles. Once empty, the bottles are stored in their own crates and collected for return to the factory to be cleaned and refilled. CCEP says a refillable glass bottle boasts a greenhouse gas impact three times lower than that of a single-use glass bottle. Coca-Cola says that packaging accounts for 43% of their total value chain emissions.

More info in The Innovation Zone.

#3 Sweden sees launch of tequila in cardboard bottle

Mexican tequila brand Buen Vato has announced the launch of what is claimed to be the world’s first tequila in a cardboard bottle. It is made from 94% recycled material and produces 84% less CO2 emissions per kg. Production of the bottle uses six times less energy, and 1.9 litres less water than conventional glass tequila bottles. Transport costs are also reduced by 0.52 kg/C02 less per litre of tequila. Buen Vato’s goal for 2022 is to produce 20,000 bottles which will reduce CO2 emissions by 24600 kg. Inside the board bottle is a plastic liner which is easily removed for recycling purposes. The Swedish government, which operates a monopoly on retail sales of alcoholic beverages, will be the first retailer in the world to launch and sell this unique product. Buen Vato will be officially unveiled at the ProWein fair in Germany.

More info in The Innovation Zone.

#4 World’s first aluminium lug lid is easy to open

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