Diageo will launch “100% plastic free” bottles of Johnnie Walker starting next year, the latest example of a major beverage maker trying to move towards more sustainable packaging ways.
In a statement on Monday, the British firm said the bottle would be paper-based and “made entirely of wood of sustainable origin.”
The development of the bottle is the product of a collaboration between the beverage giant and risk management company Pilot Lite, which in turn led to the development of a business called Pulpex Limited.
Diageo described Pulpex Limited as a “sustainable packaging technology company” and said its paper bottle was scalable and plastic-free.
“The bottle is made from pulp of sustainable origin to meet food safety standards and will be fully recyclable in standard waste streams,” said the firm, whose other brands include Guinness and Baileys Irish Cream.
In addition to the Diageo bottles, Pulpex has established a “partner consortium” of fast-moving consumer goods businesses, or FMCGs. This includes PepsiCo and Unilever, which will also launch their own products using paper bottle technology next year.
In the UK, awareness of plastic pollution has increased in recent years by programs like “Blue Planet II”. Hosted by naturalist David Attenborough, the television show highlighted the impact that plastic has on wildlife.
According to statistics from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the UK generated 2.26 million metric tons of plastic packaging waste in 2017, with 46.2% of this recovered or recycled.
Diageo is one of several major companies looking to introduce new types of packaging. Last October, Carlsberg released details of two “paper bottle” research prototypes he was working on. In November, Heineken UK said it would remove the plastic from its multiple packages by 2021.
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