This means that for the first time consumers will be able to enjoy a bottle of drench – sustainable UK sourced spring water from the heart of Britain – before putting the empty bottle in their recycling bin, safe in the knowledge it can be collected and taken for recycling in the UK, back into food grade rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate), which in turn could be used to make another drench bottle.
The first of the new packaging to be produced will be part of a trial of over a million 500ml bottles, which will contain 10% rPET. This will be sourced from the world’s first food grade PET and HDPE plastic bottle recycling plant in London, Closed Loop Recycling, in conjunction with Britvic’s preform bottle supplier Constar.
Leslie Davey, Britvic brands director commented: “It has always been our ambition to use British rPET to continue the brand’s journey to continually improve our carbon footprint. We don’t intend to stop here – both drench and Britvic will continue to look for ways to ensure sustainability remains a key consideration across the brand and the wider business.”
Graham Dale, head of quality, safety and environment at Britvic said: “Packaging and recycling are top of the list of environmental concerns for consumers when it comes to soft drinks. Using UK sourced rPET is just one of many measures Britvic is putting in place to limit its impact on the environment to ensure it remains a sustainable and responsible business.”
Closed Loop Recycling’s managing director, Chris Dow, who will be supplying the 10% rPET content per bottle, added: “We are delighted to be working with Britvic, who, alongside an increasing number of other big brand owners and retailers, now understand the importance of producing more sustainable packaging here in the UK, something UK consumers are demanding. Our state of the art recycling facility in London is designed to meet that purpose and we can recycle up to 35,000 tonnes of plastic bottles each year into material that can be used for new food and drink packaging.”
The inclusion of UK rPET in drench bottles ensures less energy is used in manufacturing than if virgin PET is used, reducing each drench bottle’s carbon footprint by approximately 6% . Other brands in the UK have trialled rPET in packaging, but have sourced recycled material from abroad, neutralising any environmental benefit through transport emissions.
The new drench bottles containing UK rPET will be available on shelf from March.
Source: Britvic
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