World’s First Paper Beer Bottle a Telling Sign Of Things To Come
Canadian Packaging
Sustainability Bottles BillerudKorsnäs Carlsberg Group ecoXpac Green Fibre Bottle L'Oreal Paboco The Absolut Company The Coca-Cola Company Together Towards ZERO programCarlsberg will now join The Coca-Cola Company, The Absolut Company and L’Oréal in an international paper bottle community
As part of its continuing packaging sustainability journey, famed Danish beermaker Carlsberg Group has created the world’s first ‘paper’ beer bottle, made from sustainably-sourced wood fibres, that is both 100-percent bio-based and fully recyclable.
While it’s not quite ready for full-scale commercialization, the two new prototypes of the Green Fibre Bottle unveiled so far pride plenty of credibility to Carlsberg’s commitment to its Together Towards ZERO program, which includes achieving zero carbon emissions at Carlsberg’s breweries and a 30-percent carbon-footprint reduction in its full value chain.
The two new research prototypes are made from sustainably sourced wood fibre, are fully recyclable and have an inner barrier to allow the bottles to contain beer. One prototype uses a thin recycled PET polymer film barrier, and the other a 100-percent bio-based PEF polymer film barrier.
These prototypes will be used to test the barrier technology as Carlsberg seeks a solution to achieve their ultimate ambition of a 100-percent bio-based bottle without polymers.
“As we continue to innovate across all our packaging formats, we are pleased with the progress we’ve made on the Green Fibre Bottle so far,” says Myriam Shingleton, vice-president of group development at Carlsberg Group.
“While we are not completely there yet, the two prototypes are an important step towards realizing our ultimate ambition of bringing this breakthrough to market,”Shingleton states.
“Innovation takes time and we will continue to collaborate with leading experts in order to overcome remaining technical challenges, just as we did with our plastic-reducing Snap Pack.”
Carlsberg kicked off the project to develop a bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fibres, the ‘Green Fibre Bottle,’ in 2015 alongside innovation experts ecoXpac, packaging company BillerudKorsnäs, and postdoctoral researchers from the Danish Technical University, supported by the Innovation Fund Denmark agency.
These combined efforts have resulted in the formation of Paboco, a joint-venture company specializing in the development of paper bottles.
Carlsberg will now join The Coca-Cola Company, The Absolut Company and L’Oréal in an international paper bottle community. that unites leading global companies and experts with the vision of advancing sustainable packaging by offering high-quality products while reducing their environmental impact.
“The work with our partners since 2015 on the Green Fibre Bottle illustrates that this kind of innovation can happen when we work together,” Shingleton says.
“We’re delighted that other like-minded companies have now joined us as part of Paboco’s paper bottle community. Partnerships such as these, ones that are united by a desire to create sustainable innovations, are the best way to bring about real change.
“We’re driven by our constant pursuit of creating more sustainable packaging solutions that help people to live more sustainable lives,” Shingleton proclaims.
“Sometimes that means completely rethinking how things are done—pushing the boundaries of existing technologies and overcoming technical challenges as they present themselves.”
Gittan Schiöld, interim chief executive officer of Paboco, adds: “We are collaborating across the value chain, sharing the risks and remaining united in our vision that the paper bottle will become a reality that fundamentally change this industry for the better.”
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