Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I announces £6m sustainability investment

Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I (SBF GB&I) has announced that it will invest £6 million to support the recycling of its Lucozade sport beverage bottles by renovating the brand’s plastic packaging. 

Suntory, which owns brands such as Ribena and Orangina, says the changes will represent a saving of 3,500 tonnes of virgin plastic and 9,000 tonnes of CO2. 

In addition to a new bottle made from recycled plastic, Suntory will also reduce the size of the bottle’s label – further eliminating plastic use and ensuring the bottle can be fully recycled back into another plastic bottle. 

SBF GB&I recently set ambitious sustainability targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, and to be net zero by 2050. These commitments form part of the company’s £7.8 million investment to make its packaging environmentally friendly. 

The company recently launched other initiatives, including a newly designed Ribena bottle and the replacement of plastic straws with paper alternatives for all Ribena cartons. 

Toby McKeever, COO at SBF GB&I: “This investment into our iconic Lucozade brand marks a huge step towards our 2030 sustainable plastic packaging goals and makes the UK’s biggest sports drink brand also one of the most sustainable”.

“From professionals to grassroots players, Lucozade Sport is a staple for athletes across the country and I urge these sports drink fans to go the extra mile and recycle their bottle. Part of our Growing for Good vision is to minimise our environmental impact and keeping our bottles in circulation is a crucial part of this.”

The Recycling Association CEO Simon Ellin said: “We have been critical in the past of brands using a full plastic sleeve around their bottles. Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I have gone above and beyond remedying this in their re-design, by not only minimising the plastic sleeve, and ensuring the whole bottle is recyclable, but they’ve moved to using 100% recycled material in its manufacture too. This is market-leading and we fully applaud them for their efforts.”

Rebecca Pow, Environment Minister added: “I am pleased to see Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I make this investment into their Lucozade brand – this is exactly the sort of ambitious leadership we need from industry to ensure more materials are recycled and reused.”

“Through our landmark Environment Bill, we will create deposit return schemes for drinks containers, encourage more recyclable packaging through extended producer responsibility, and put in place consistent recycling collections which will transform the way we deal with plastic waste.”