Pernod Ricard is closing in on a vodka bottle that is fully biodegradable. “Absolut has successfully trialled an industry-first paper-based cap and bottle duo as part of the company’s ongoing vision to create a fully bio-based bottle,” the company, which also owns Chivas Brothers and Beefeater Gin, announced this week.
The ‘Absolut Paper’ bottle was launched in 2023 in collaboration with Paboco (the Paper Bottle Company), and trialled at select Tesco stores in the UK. The first-generation single-mould bottles are made from 57% paper with an integrated barrier of recyclable plastic. Caps, made from 95% FSC-certified fibres with a thin top-seal barrier made of plastic, have now been added and tested to secure another part of this “jigsaw”.
The new combination was trialled for the first time at the ‘Absolut The Map’ event in May, where bartenders were able to put the new innovation to the test. The focus of the test was to evaluate functionality, handling and overall impression of the cap in “real-life” situations. The next steps on the development journey involve further quality testing, followed by a limited in-market trial.
The long-term ambition is to replace the plastic with a bio-based material so the entire cap will be made of renewable materials. Work continues to reduce the plastic in the bottle, too.
Some of Paboco’s bottles have 85% paper, with the remaining 15% consisting of an HDPE plastic barrier. The exact percentages vary depending on the bottle shape and intended application, according to a recent report by Packaging Europe.
Paboco, which also counts the likes of The Coca-Cola Company and Carlsberg among its supporters, began full-scale production of its fibre-based bottles at its manufacturing site in Denmark in February 2024; it has targeted 20 million bottles by the end of 2025.
Pulpex is also innovating in this space with brands including PepsiCo, Diageo and Kraft Heinz. The company recently started work with professor Joseph Keddie at the University of Surrey to develop a new coatings technology for the bottles.
In February, Pulpex announced that it has raised £62m in a series D funding round, with proceeds to be used to scale production of its “recyclable paper-based bottles”. The construction of a planned 50 million bottle per annum facility near Glasgow will create the UK’s first fibre bottle supply chain, and 35 new jobs in Scotland.
The likes of Pernod, together with other major global drinks brands like Diageo and AB InBev, have identified packaging as key to reducing their carbon emissions in line with 1.5C of global heating. Decreasing bottle weight, augmenting recycled content, innovating and exploring new materials and developing closed-loop distribution models, including refillables, will all play a part in cutting their considerable scope 3 emissions.
