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Getty Images / Diageo
Johnnie Walker, the whiskey that traces its roots 200 years ago, will soon be available in paper bottles.
Diageo, the beverage giant that owns the brand, said it plans to test the new organic packaging starting next year.
While most Johnnie Walker is sold in glass bottles, the company is looking for ways to use less plastic across all of its brands.
Making glass bottles also consumes energy and generates carbon emissions.
Diageo’s paper whiskey bottle, to be tested in the spring of 2021, will be made from wood pulp and will be fully recyclable, the company said.
The idea is that customers can throw them directly into recycling.
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To make the bottles, Diageo will jointly launch a company called Pulpex, which will also produce packaging for products like Unilever and PepsiCo.
Beverage companies have been developing paper bottles to try to reduce pollution and make products more sustainable.
Carlsberg in the process of developing a paper beer bottle.
British firm Frugalpac produces paper wine bottles that it says are made from recycled paper with a “food grade coating”.
However, the beverage giant Coca-Cola in January said it would not abandon single-use plastic bottles because consumers still want them.
No plastic
Diageo said its bottles will be made by pressurizing the pulp into molds that will then be cured in microwave ovens.
The bottles will be internally sprayed with coatings designed not to interact with the drinks they will contain.
Many cartons made of paper have a plastic lining on the inside to prevent beverages from leaking. However, Diageo said its beverage bottles will not have that plastic coating.
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Some major food and beverage producers are trying to reduce plastic pollution.
Companies are under increasing pressure to reduce the amount of plastic in packaging as consumers increasingly focus on damage to ecosystems.
In Europe, 8.2 million tons of plastic were used to package food and beverages in 2018, according to ING analysts.
Diageo, which also makes Guinness and Smirnoff vodka, said it uses less than 5% plastic in its total packaging.
However, although glass bottle manufacturers strive to make production more efficient, they still have a significant carbon footprint.
It takes a lot of energy to power glass furnaces, many of which use natural gas to melt raw materials like sand and limestone.
