Suntory’s new Ribena design enables 100% bottle-to-bottle recycling

Suntory Beverage and Food has unveiled a packaging redesign which ensures Ribena bottles can be recycled more than once and made back into bottles.

The company has reduced the amount of plastic used to make each bottle sleeve, which it claims will save 202 tonnes of plastic per year. It will also enable the Ribena bottles to be easily identified, sorted and recycled using standard industry technology, ensuring that they can be turned back into bottles within the current UK recycling infrastructure.

Suntory invested £1.6 million in the project, which marks a step towards the company’s target of making plastic packaging completely sustainable by 2030, as well as its 2050 net zero commitment.

According to Ribena, the move means it has become the UK’s largest soft drinks brand to use bottles which are made from 100% recycled plastic and 100% bottle-to-bottle recyclable.

From January 2021, all 500ml bottles manufactured annually in the UK and Ireland will feature the new design. The packaging redesign will also be applied across Lucozade Sport and Lucozade Energy – two other drinks made by Suntory – in the next 18 months, which will reportedly save 1,100 tonnes of plastic each year. 

Carol Robert, COO at Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I, said: “Making sure that our bottles can be easily recycled and turned back into bottles is an important part of our journey towards full circularity and net zero emissions.

“Simplifying the packaging of our drinks to help consumers to recycle is just one of our many investments in making our soft drinks more sustainable. From climate-change resilient blackcurrants to promoting biodiversity on our farms, we’re working to make Ribena more sustainable from bush to bottle.” 

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “It is this kind of innovation that we want to see to create a more circular economy for our waste and resources, with more materials being recycled and reused and less being consigned to landfill or incineration.”