A strong contender to succeed the plastics milk bottle has marched into the UK market, heralded as a greener option because it is made largely from recycled paper and has a thin plastics inner lining, components that can be separated for easier recycling or able to cause less harm in landfill.
The GreenBottle has begun to appear in Asda stores across East Anglia ahead of a full roll-out across the country. The pack has been adopted by the Marybelle dairy for its fresh milk sold in shops and delivered to customers’ doorsteps.
The paper element of the GreenBottle, if not recycled, is compostable and biodegradable, while the plastics fraction will cut down the amount that ends up in landfill, it is argued.
The British developers say it is ‘a breakthrough bottle design with equivalent production, supply chain and in-use characteristics to plastics, ¬ but with a significantly better environmental profile’.
With a thin plastics liner made of a PE and LDPE, the format is said to use a third of the amount of plastic of an equivalent plastics bottle. The cap and insert are made from HDPE.
The paper labels have a ‘lactose-resistant coating’ so they can be recycled in the paper recycling stream. They are printed by Skanem, one of the UK's biggest label suppliers.
The early developments of the bottle 'shell' (the paper outer) were made overseas, initially in Taiwan, and now the work is carried out in Europe, a spokesperson told Packaging Today. He added: “By spring next year we will be making the shells in the UK, so it will be in a classic 'closed loop' using locally sourced waste paper to manufacture bottles to go back into UK shops.
“The bottle shells are assembled into bottles in the UK at a local dairy in Suffolk - the Marybelle Dairy - and this is where the bottles are filled with milk. Our GreenBottle employees assemble the bottles, and the Marybelle dairy takes them and fills them. The bottles run down their dairy filling lines at the same rates as plastic bottles do.”
The paper outer is designed with an overlapping flap, which is glued down on the bottle and under which the consumer can easily slide a thumb or finger to open up the bottle.
“We have shipped over 10,000 bottles into the pilot market in Norfolk and without exception, consumers tell us opening and disposing of the bottle is fast and easy,” Packaging Today was told.
GreenBottle management team aiming to drive the technology forward includes former BSkyB Group
Brand Marketing Director Andy Brent taking the role of Managing Director, with Chairman Paul Bateman, a former senior Boots executive, and Technology Director Martin Myerscough, the inventor of GreenBottle.
The advertising agency Mother has taken an undisclosed stake in the business, and will handle its brand positioning and marketing communications.
GreenBottle Managing Director Andy Brent said: “We have been working to optimise our GreenBottle design for over a year. Our breakthrough bottle can be produced, filled and distributed in exactly the same way and at equivalent scale to plastic, but with a significantly reduced impact on the environment. It runs down existing production lines exactly as plastic bottles do, and consumers tell us they overwhelmingly prefer it ¬ we¹re very excited about the prospects for this amazing piece of design.”
GreenBottle’s creator Martin Myerscough said: “Our GreenBottle design is all about helping consumers do their bit for the environment with the minimum of fuss or habits change. As a society we just use way too
much plastic ¬ we have to find a way to cut down. Consumers want to change ¬ but they won¹t pay more to do so, or take on extra daily hassle. GreenBottle makes it really easy for consumers to choose an environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic every day. Could GreenBottle really replace plastic bottles? Yes, we really think it
could.”
Stef Calcraft, partner at Mother, said: “We¹ve always looked to make strategic investments in like-minded businesses, and GreenBottle is the best consumer packaging idea we have ever seen. Mother aims to
make a positive impact in everything it does and GreenBottle is an idea that we feel so strongly about we have taken an equity investment in it, over and above helping to co-create the brand, to help make it happen.”
