Paper beer bottle? What? Photo: Carlsberg
If there’s a silver lining to the global plastic epidemic, it’s that very smart engineer types are working hard with ample funding to find friendlier materials for single-use. Case in point: Danish beer giant Carlsberg, which predominantly sells beer not in plastic bottles but glass ones and aluminum cans, recently unveiled two prototypes for a paper beer bottle that has applications for all sorts of beverages. Especially the kind often sold in plastic.
Carlsberg calls their bottle the Green Fibre Bottle and it’s made from sustainably-sourced wood fibers. According to the company, the bottle is 100 percent bio-based and fully recyclable. The two prototypes differ in the inner barrier that makes them able to hold beer. The first features a recycled PET polymer film barrier – so not exactly plastic-free. The second uses a 100 percent bio-based PEF polymer barrier. Ultimately, the company hopes to land on a bottle design that doesn’t rely on polymers whatsoever.
“We are pleased with the progress we’ve made on the Green Fibre Bottle so far,” said Myriam Shingleton, vice president of group development at Carlsberg Group, in a statement. “While we are not completely there yet, the two prototypes are an important step towards realizing our ultimate ambition of bringing this breakthrough to market.”
The effort is part of Carlsberg’s pledge to reduce carbon emissions at its breweries to zero and create a 30 percent reduction in its full-value-chain footprint by 2030.
Perhaps what’s most exciting about Carlsberg’s paper beer bottle is its applications far outside of the world of suds: namely beverages and other liquid products that come in liquid bottles. For this project, Carlsberg has partnered with Coca-Cola, Absolut, and L’Oréal, meaning we may not be very far from a world where soda, liquor, and shampoo and conditioner all come in paper bottles.
“We’re delighted that other like-minded companies have now joined us,” said Shingleton. “Partnerships such as these, ones that are united by a desire to create sustainable innovations, are the best way to bring about real change.”
