| Greene King introduces lightweight bottles
Jane Ellis, packagingnews.co.uk, 24 September 2008
Suffolk brewer Greene King has reduced the amount of glass used in its beer bottles by 25% and in the process will cut carbon emissions by 150 tonnes a year.
Greene King operations director Steve Magnall said the firm sells 13 million bottles of its flagship Old Speckled Hen brand annually and has reduced the weight of the 500ml bottle from 400g to 302g, which will dramatically lighten the load for delivery vehicles.
Initially, the lightweight bottle will be used for Speckled Hen, Abbot Ale and Hop, but during the next few weeks about ten other brands will be switched over.
In total the firm produces some 18-20 million bottles of beer a year including Speckled Hen, Ruddles County, Greene King IPA Export and Hen's Tooth brands.
Greene King said it will save more than 1,500 tonnes of glass each year ¨C the equivalent of five million bottles ¨C and cut its energy use by 20%.
Magnall said the lightweighting project started 10 months ago and has been a big project involving production, marketing and sales.
"We've invested more than £200,000 on new change parts for the bottling line, new front, back and neck label designs, on altering the pallet configurations and designing new consumer packs," he said.
The new lightweight bottle, conceived by Design Bridge in London and supplied by Allied Glass, is also a slimmer, contemporary shape that the firm says will stand out on shelf.
All labels and consumer packs, except those for Abbot Ale, were designed by 032 Design in Sudbury. London-based JKR handled the Abbot Ale designs.
Greene King managing director Justin Adams said: "We are always looking for ways to improve our performance. We are constantly setting ourselves new targets and finding new ways to reduce our carbon footprint through all areas of our business.
"The lightweighting bottling project is just one of many activities that address the growing environmental and commercial issues facing us."
Greene King commissioned its £8m bottling line at Bury St Edmunds two years ago. |
