Britvic develops wood fibre bottle

GreenPrint Packaging Solutions

Britvic has taken significant steps towards exploring wood fibre bottles as a viable packaging option for multiple sectors.

In partnership with Innovate UK and Natural Resources (2000), the soft drinks manufacturer has been working to revolutionise packaging across multiple sectors with sustainably sourced, renewable wood fibre materials which are fully recyclable.

Investigating the new wood fibre packaging technology formed part of Britvic's broader research and development work stream within the sustainability strategy in 2016.

Clive Hooper, chief supply chain officer, commented: ‘At Britvic, we know that to be a successful business in the long term we must be a sustainable business and this means listening to the needs of our consumers, our customers, our communities, and our employees.

‘We understand that packaging and the environmental impact of waste is a major concern and we're committed to working collaboratively with others to explore innovative solutions. The wood fibre bottle is a great example of what potentially can be done and its development has provided great insight into what will and won't work in terms of quality standards and mass production in the future. We are now working hard to take our learnings from the fibre bottle to investigate fibre based sustainable packaging materials further.’

As well as investment in research and development, Britvic's sustainability strategy places environmental initiatives at the heart of the business. The company is currently half way through a £240 million supply chain investment programme to maximise efficiency across its manufacturing sites, reduce waste and improve its environmental footprint.

As part of this programme, £25 million was invested at the Leeds plant, which employs over 200 people, to create a new high speed bottling line, resulting in a 22% reduction in water use and a 45% reduction in energy consumption relative to production volumes. The upgrades have also allowed the Pepsi bottler to access the latest in packaging technology, allowing Britvic to blow and fill lighter bottles, thereby reducing the amount of plastic packaging needed per year by 155 tonnes, the equivalent weight of over ten double decker buses.

Meanwhile, Britvic has invested in upgrading equipment and processing techniques to deliver greater water efficiency, resulting in a reduction in total water consumption of 0.4% despite a 0.7% increase in production volumes. This saving is equivalent to the volume of water needed to fill five Olympic swimming pools.

Finally, as part of Britvic's commitment to reducing waste, Britvic sent zero waste to landfill in the UK, and maintained a recycling rate of nearly 92%. As part of its community outreach, the company also partnered with Recoup – member based plastics recycling organisation – to encourage 25,000 festival goers at Liverpool's Fusion Festival to recycle their plastic bottles, which resulted in the collection and recycling of over 10,000 plastic bottles, saving the equivalent of nearly half a tonne of carbon.