Radnor Hills has invested £5m to more than double its Tetra Pak production capacity as the soft drinks supplier looks to mitigtate EPR fees levied on plastic and glass bottles.
The Welsh business has commissioned a new Tetra Pak line with capacity to fill 24,000 cartons an hour. The new line will increase its overall carton capacity by 150%, from 60 million to 150 million packs annually.
It will also create 20 new jobs at the Knighton-based business.
The move came with Radnor Hills set to face a first-year EPR bill totalling around £400k, sales and marketing director Chris Sanders revealed.
“That’s a substantial new cost to absorb,” Sanders said. “We are continuing to reduce packaging where we can – although we’ve already completed most of this work already – while also investing in format choice so customers can pick what works best for their shoppers and for sustainability outcomes.”
Although Tetra Pak cartons attract higher fees per tonne than plastic or glass, the format was much lighter on a per-unit basis, Sanders said.
That meant that the EPR cost per drink could “still compare favourably versus heavier formats like glass – while also offering strong shelf, logistics and carbon benefits,” he claimed.
With PET bottles and cans to also sit under the UK’s forthcoming deposit return scheme, the investment in Tetra Pak would ensure Radnor Hills was “future-proofed for DRS as well as EPR”, Sanders predicted.
The new line will also enable Radnor Hills to expand further into new markets and channels. “It will help us continue growth in the schools and foodservice sector while also giving us the ability to look at new export markets and the travel sector,” said Sanders.
There was also potential to extend into “the healthcare sector, hotel industry, prison service and new channels like convenience” he added.
Earlier this month, Radnor Hills’ Radnor Splash brand rolled a duo of Tetra Pak cartons with Disney’s Lilo & Stitch branding into Morrisons stores.
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