The design of Carlsberg’s Green Fiber Bottle was unveiled before 500 business leaders at the Sustainable Brands 2016 Conference in Copenhagen this week.
Technical challenges
BeverageDaily reported in January last year Carlsberg partnered with Danish packaging company EcoXpac to develop a beer bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fiber.
The first prototype of a fiber-based bottle was revealed in January 2015 by Professor Flemming Besenbacher, chairman of the Carlsberg Foundation, at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Simon Boas Hoffmeyer, sustainability director, Carlsberg, told BeverageDaily, having a physical prototype makes it easier to explain the new packaging format to consumers.
He said the team still had some technical challenges to overcome but having the prototype was a great way to demonstrate how innovation and design can shape products of the future.
Challenges include development of the impulse drying technology that will be the cornerstone in creating a wood-fiber mold, fully biodegradable cap, coatings, inks and binders.
At the time of the initial launch Hoffmeyer said Carlsberg wants to commercialize the bottle in 2018.“In the beginning it would naturally be a small part of the packaging mix, but we have high hopes for the bottle, and believe it can bring new and interesting consumption experiences to our consumers, and help us to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels by using a renewable primary raw-material for the bottles,” he said.
Sustainably sourced wood-fiber
“All materials in the bottle, as well as the cap, will be developed based on a selection of biodegradable materials, principally sustainably sourced wood-fiber,”
The design of the beer bottle was developed with Carlsberg’s partners in the Carlsberg Circular Community as well as CP+B Copenhagen and Kilo, a Danish industrial design studio. The prototype, which has been prepared based on the distinctive Carlsberg design, shows how the bottle might look like when it hits the market.
The Green Fiber Bottle fibers will come from responsibly managed sources, with trees replanted at the same rate that they are harvested.
The three-year project is supported by Innovation Fund Denmark and the Technical University of Denmark.