While the bulk of the bottles use wood fibres, they still contain an inner barrier of either PET or bio-based PEF to allow the bottle to carry liquid. The next stage will be to achieve a completely bio-based bottle without polymers.
Carlsberg has also been joined by The Coca-Cola Company, The Absolut Company and L’Oreal in a ‘paper bottle community’ – a joint venture called Paboco.
Film barrier challenges
Carlsberg started work on wood fibre bottles in 2015: seeking to create an 100% bio-based bottle without polymers.
The two research prototypes unveiled this week are made from wood fibre which is fully recyclable. Each has an inner barrier to allow the bottles to contain beer. One prototype uses a thin recycled PET polymer film barrier, and the other a 100% bio-based PEF polymer film barrier.
These prototypes will be used to test the barrier technology as Carlsberg seeks to achieve its ultimate ambition of a 100% bio-based bottle without polymers.
Myriam Shingleton, Vice President Group Development at Carlsberg Group, 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.”
A paper bottle community
Launched today, Paboco seeks to unit experts in material, design and technology to create the paper bottle company.
Building on work done by Carlsberg on the Green Fibre Bottle, it is a joint venture between paper packaging material developer BillerudKorsnäs and bottle manufacturing specialist Alpla. Partners include Carlsberg, The Coca-Cola Company, The Absolut Company and L’Oreal.
Each brand will develop and design their own paper bottle best suited for their own products.
“The Paper Bottle is a step-by-step innovation concept focused on scaling and product functionality,” says a statement from the organisation. “It is the first of its kind for liquid goods such as carbonated and still drinks, beauty products and more.”
“As well as scaling up production technology, Paboco wants to drive a transition towards a circular society: with the 100% biobased and recyclable bottle that can harmlessly degrade if accidentally left in nature.
“Our vision will always drive us further than the expectations of today and push us to improve the paper bottle to become fully sustainable and optimised for material reuse and circularity.”
