Juice Bottles Put New Twist On Recycling
By Canadian Packaging Staff
Sustainability RPC Containers Corby The Big Squeeze Fresh JuiceFor up-and-coming companies hoping to cash in on the purity and all-natural content of their product, sustainable packaging can provide an all-important competitive edge in the ongoing battle for market share.
It has certainly played out that way so far The Big Squeeze Fresh Juice Co. of Milton Keynes, U.K., whose Twisted line of fresh, all-organic juices helped the upstart drinkmaker earn the coveted New Exporter of the Year award, sponsored by of the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) agency late last year.
Using only organically-grown fruit, with about a third of it grown in the U.K., the Twisted beverage line comprises eight different juice blends—including apple and lime, pomegranate and red grapes, carrot and apple, etc.
But while the product’s all-natural, home-grown credentials have immediately registered with the British consumer public, company founder and managing director Simon James knew that similar success in the export markets would not be possible without finding a way to prolong the product’s one-week shelf-life.
To overcome this drawback, James turned to the local packaging experts at RPC Containers Corby, asking them not only to create a more functional and attractive beverage container, but also a more environmentally-friendly one.
The container manufacturer responded by switching the size of the bottle from the original 330-milliliters to a slimmer 250-ml size (see picture)—making a more direct appeal to the ‘on-the-go’ target audience—while incorporating up to 35-percent ‘regrind’ material, essentially waste product created during the blowmolding process, into the polypropylene (PP) bottle.
To ensure 100-percent recyclability for the new containers, which have extended the Twisted drinks’ shelf-life up to five months, the caps and labels were also manufactured in PP.
Says James: “RPC Corby is an excellent packaging partner. They are easy to work with, always very supportive and, of course, their barrier expertise ensures that the fresh, great taste of Twisted juices is maintained through the product’s shelf-life.”
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