Carlsberg has unveiled its first fully recyclable, bio-based beer bottle.
The brewing giant’s new bottles are made with sustainably sourced wood fibre and contain a “pioneering” polyethylene furanoate (PEF) lining, made entirely from natural raw materials.
The PEF lining, which Carslberg claimed was “the most significant innovation” as it protected the taste and carbonation of the beer, was made as part of a pilot by renewable chemistry tech company Avantium.
Carlsberg has signed a conditional offtake agreement with the company to secure a fixed volume of the material from its FDCA flagship plant, which Avantium aims to startup in 2024.
The outer wood fibre shell, meanwhile, could help “keep the beer cold for longer compared to cans or glass bottles” due to its insulating properties, claimed Carlsberg.
The brewer said its “ultimate vision” for the fibre bottle was to achieve “up to 80% less emissions than current single-use glass bottles”.
This meant that for the carbon footprint of every single-use glass bottle created, five fibre bottles could be created.
Samples will be offered to 8,000 consumers and stakeholders across the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany and Poland.
Following product sampling and feedback, Carlsberg will then improve the design and work towards making the bottles more widely available.
Stéphane Munch, VP for group development at Carlsberg, said identifying and producing PEF “as a competent functional barrier for beer” had been “one of our greatest challenges”.
Carlsberg UK head of marketing Sam Johnson said the innovation was “the result of years of passion, hard work and collaboration – and another step forward in our journey to reduce the impact of our packaging”.
The Danish brewing giant first unveiled plans to create the world’s first fully biodegradable wood fibre bottle in 2015. It followed this up with its first prototype paper beer bottle in 2016, and a PEF-lined prototype in 2019.
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