The two research prototype bottles are made from sustainably sourced wood fibres and feature inner barrier to allow them to contain beer

green-fibre-bottl

Image: Carlsberg’s new Green Fibre Bottle prototypes. Photo: courtesy of Carlsberg Breweries A/S.

Danish brewer Carlsberg has introduced two prototypes of the world’s first ‘paper bottle’ for beer, Green Fibre Bottle, as part of its sustainability efforts.

The developments are part of Carlsberg’s sustainability programme, Together Towards ZERO, which includes a commitment to ZERO carbon emissions at its breweries and a 30% reduction in its full-value-chain carbon footprint by 2030.

Launched at the C40 World Mayors Summit being held in Copenhagen, the two research prototype bottles are made from sustainably sourced wood fibres and comprise inner barrier to allow them to contain beer.

Claimed to be the world’s first paper bottle for beer, one of the prototypes makes use of a thin recycled PET polymer film barrier, while the other uses a 100% bio-based PEF polymer film barrier.

The new research prototype bottles are designed to test the barrier technology

Carlsberg group development vice-president Myriam Shingleton said: “We continue to innovate across all our packaging formats, and we are pleased with the progress we’ve made on the Green Fibre Bottle so far. While we are not completely there yet, the two prototypes are an important step towards realising our ultimate ambition of bringing this breakthrough to market.

“Innovation takes time and we will continue to collaborate with leading experts in order to overcome remaining technical challenges, just as we did with our plastic-reducing Snap Pack.”

Carlsberg said that it will use the two new fully recyclable research prototypes to test the barrier technology in a bid to achieve 100% bio-based bottle without polymers.

In partnership with EcoXpac, BillerudKorsnäs and researchers from the Technical University of Denmark, Carlsberg has launched the project to develop the Green Fibre Bottle, a bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fibres, in 2015.

As part of the project, the partners have established a paper bottle company, Paboco.

Paboco is a joint venture between BillerudKorsnäs and bottle manufacturing specialist ALPLA.

In addition to Carlsberg, The Coca-Cola Company, The Absolut Company, and French brand L’Oreal have signed up to be a part Paboco’s new paper bottle community.

The community aims to bring together global companies and experts to advance sustainable packaging.

Paboco interim CEO Gittan Schiöld said: “It is all about the team! We are collaborating across the value chain, sharing the risks and are united in our vision that the paper bottle will become a reality and fundamentally change this industry for good.”