Suntory announces £6m sustainability investment
The drinks manufacturer has revealed plans to renovating the packaging of the brand to ensure bottles of Lucozade Sport are only made with recycled plastic.
The bottle will be redesigned with a smaller label to further reduce the amount of plastic used and ensure every bottle can be recycled into another bottle.
On-pack recycling prompts will also feature on the new labels. In total, the changes represent a saving of 3,500 tonnes of virgin plastic and 9,000 tonnes of CO2, according to SBF.
‘Biggest and most sustainable’
Toby McKeever, chief operating officer at SBF GB&I: “This investment into our iconic Lucozade brand marks a huge step towards our 2030 sustainable plastic packaging goals and makes the UK’s biggest sports drink brand also one of the most sustainable.
SBF’s sustainability commitments form part of a wider £7.8m investment to make its packaging more sustainable. This included initiatives such as a new designed Ribena bottle and the replacement of plastic straws with paper alternatives on Ribena cartons.
The manufacturer planned for further changes next year as it works towards its commitment to make all its plastic packaging completely sustainable by 2030.
Critical of plastic sleeves
Commenting on SBF’s investment, The Recycling Association chief executive Simon Ellin said: “We have been critical in the past of brands using a full plastic sleeve around their bottles.
“Suntory Beverage and Food GB&I have gone above and beyond remedying this in their re-design, by not only minimising the plastic sleeve, and ensuring the whole bottle is recyclable, but they’ve moved to using 100% recycled material in its manufacture too. This is market leading and we fully applaud them for their efforts.”
Meanwhile, Valpak outlines options and urges engagement as Extended Producer Responsibility consultation nears end, while Menzies maps out the state of play on the Plastics Packaging Tax in our latest packaging trends overview.
