Müller to acquire bottling plants in bid to reduce plastic waste

Müller has announced it will purchase several plastic bottle manufacturing facilities in the UK in a bid to reduce plastic waste.

The acquisitions will allow Müller to closely monitor bottle production, allowing the brand to reduce the amount of plastic waste in the production process and increase the use of recycled plastic in its bottles.

Müller has already acquired plants in Bellshill and Manchester from Nampak, and the companies are currently negotiating a deal which would also see Müller acquire Nampak’s Foston site and bottling manufacturing facilities at the Severnside plant.

Once the acquisition of the facilities at the Severnside site is completed, Müller claims it will heavily invest in the facility to improve its manufacturing capabilities.

Employees at the affected facilities will retain their jobs, according to the company.

Andrew McInnes, Müller Milk & Ingredients managing director said: “We are clear about the need to drive down the use of plastic and have worked with our suppliers to remove 10,000 tonnes from our milk bottles since 2016.

“We are also actively increasing the use of recycled plastic and seeking significantly higher levels of sustainable packaging innovation.

“With these acquisitions, we are changing our operating model to gain greater control and agility to ensure that our packaging is fit-for-purpose, recyclable and evolving to meet rapidly changing customer and consumer needs.

“Ownership of packaging assets immediately adjacent to our dairies gives us a significant advantage in our sector.

“Rather than being reliant on third-party manufacturers or having to purchase and transport empty packaging from remote manufacturing facilities to our dairies, we will have the ability to make milk bottles in our own plants to our specification and pass them straight to our filling lines.”