Innocent Drinks has beaten Ribena to the shelves by a week to become the first major UK soft drink producer to use 100%-recycled plastic bottles.

Innocent's 100%-recycled bottles began rolling out to stores this week on four key lines. Innocent claimed no virgin material would be used to make the bottles, resulting in a 55% reduction in its carbon footprint.

Earlier this year Innocent was one of the first three companies to sign up to the Carbon Trust scheme, pledging to cut its carbon footprint. "We've always been a business that has taken our environmental impact seriously and this move to 100%-recycled bottles is extremely exciting," said sustainability manager Jessica Sansom.

Ribena's bottles will not hit shelves until October. A spokeswoman said Ribena had already trialled the bottles in stores, but from next month all its RTD bottles would be made from plastic that has already been recycled at least once.