Asda packs milk in cardboard bottle

Jane Ellis, packagingnews.co.uk, 11 August 2008

 

Asda will this week start selling milk in a recycled cardboard bottle created by Suffolk-based GreenBottle at stores in East Anglia.

 

The GreenBottle, which retails at £1.41, has an outer shell made from recycled waste office paper that can be thrown into a compost bin. The milk is held in a low-density plastic inner liner to prevent it from contaminating the cardboard.

 

Lifecycle analysis carried out by Pira found the two-litre GreenBottle had a 48% lower carbon footprint than the equivalent plastic bottle.

 

Asda head of ethical and sustainable sourcing Chris Brown said: "Unlike other products such as the pouch, this milk bottle is robust, practical and fit for purpose, meaning there is no danger of spilled milk at breakfast time."

 

GreenBottle said the liner would take up 0.5% of the space of a traditional HDPE milk bottle when put into landfill. The closure is made from the same cardboard as the bottle and has a zip-lock inside the plastic spout to prevent spillage.

 

Chief executive Simon King said: "We are testing demand, making hundreds of bottles, and expect to gradually increase production over the next few weeks."

 

The bottle is being introduced at Asda’s Lowestoft store, which sells around 300,000 bottles of own-brand milk a year, and the retailer plans to extend it to other stores in the region by the end of the year.

 

The milk is being supplied by Suffolk dairy Marybelle.