Brewery giant Carlsberg has unveiled two new prototypes for its bio-based Wood Fibre Bottle, billed as the world’s first paper beer bottle.
The fully recyclable bottle is made from sustainably-sourced wood fibres, and each prototype tests a different polymer film barrier: one a thin recycled PET, the other a 100 per cent bio-based PEF.
According to Myriam Shingleton, vice president of group development at Carlsberg, the ultimate goal is achieving a completely bio-based bottle without polymers.
“We continue to innovate across all our packaging formats, and we are pleased with the progress we’ve made on the Green Fibre Bottle so far. While we are not completely there yet, the two prototypes are an important step towards realising our ultimate ambition of bringing this breakthrough to market.
“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,” she said.
The fibre bottle project was initiated by Carlsberg in 2015, along with innovation experts EcoXpac, packaging company BillerudKorsnäs, and post-doctoral researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, supported by Innovation Fund Denmark.
Paboco, the paper bottle company, was born out of this research as a joint venture between BillerudKorsnäs and bottle manufacturing specialist ALPLA. Paboco has also just launched a paper bottle community alongside Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Absolut, and L’Oréal to advance the sustainable packaging cause.
“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 better, to create more sustainable packaging solutions that help people to live more sustainable lives. Sometimes that means completely rethinking how things are done – pushing the boundaries of existing technologies and overcoming technical challenges as they present themselves,” said Shingleton.
Carlsberg has previously brought out a number of other sustainable packaging products, including recycled shrink film; greener ink for labels; and the Snap Pack, which glues beer cans together instead of wrapping them in plastic.
