Beer giant Carlsberg is to conduct its biggest trial of recyclable fibre beer bottles across Europe. Around 8,000 of the group’s new bottles will be sampled by customers in eight markets across the continent including the UK, Poland and France.
The bottle has been made with a wood-based fibre shell and contains a lining made of a plant-based Polyethylene Furanoate (PEF) polymer. Carlsberg said the materials can all be recycled and claimed it will retain the beer’s “taste and fizziness” against the same product in glass bottles.
Carlsberg’s new offering could potentially stay colder for longer compared to its glass and can counterparts too due to the fibre exterior, the company claimed.
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Stephane Munch, vice president for group development at Carlsberg, described the product as a “great achievement”. He said the company will continue to work with partners Avantium, who specialise in renewable chemistry and developed the polymer lining, and packaging company Paboco - who produced the outer shell of the bottle - to create developments in beer packaging.
Mr Munch said: “Identifying and producing PEF, as a competent functional barrier for beer, has been one of our greatest challenges. So getting good test results, collaborating with suppliers and seeing the bottles being filled on the line is a great achievement.”
He added that the bottle is “100% bio-based apart from the cap, which is currently needed to ensure the quality of the product”, but that there are plans for an updated Fibre Bottle 3.0. The pilot will also see the beer giant turn its sustainability efforts to its beer, which will use barley malt cultivated using fully organic and regenerative agricultural practices in partnership with barley malt supplier Soufflet.
Other European countries set to sample the beer include Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany. News of the wood-based bottle was unveiled in 2019 and Carlsberg has been working with partners on the design since 2015.
The pilot precedes the global launch of Carlsberg’s ESG programme – Together Towards Zero and Beyond – which includes a commitment to reach zero carbon emissions and a 30% reduction in its “full-value-chain carbon footprint” by 2030.
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