Carlsberg unveils first 'paper beer bottle' designs

Carlsberg has unveiled two designs for the world's first paper beer bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fibres that are fully recyclable and 100% bio-based.

Both have an inner barrier to allow the bottles to contain beer. One uses a thin recycled PET polymer film barrier, while the other uses a 100% bio-based PEF polymer film barrier.

This is part of Carlsberg's ultimate ambition to create a 100% bio-based bottle without polymers as it looks to lead the way advancing paper bottle technology.

While we are not completely there yet, the two prototypes are an important step towards realising our ultimate ambition of bringing this breakthrough to market, said Myriam Shingleton, vice president of group development at Carlsberg.

Innovation takes time and we will continue to collaborate with leading experts in order to overcome remaining technical challenges, just as we did with our plastic-reducing snap pack.“

Carlsberg said the fibre bottles are better for the environment than aluminium or glass because they are sourced in a sustainable way, and that the material has a low impact on the production process.

It started to develop a bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fibres, the Green Fibre Bottle, in 2015 alongside innovation experts EcoXpac, packaging company BillerudKorsnäs and researchers from the Technical University of Denmark.

The combined efforts have resulted in the emergence of Paboco, the paper bottle company Рa joint venture between BillerudKorsnäs and bottle manufacturing specialist ALPLA.

Carlsberg will now be joined by The Coca-Cola Company, The Absolut Company and L'Oréal in a paper bottle community Рlaunched by Paboco.

The community unites leading global companies and experts with the vision of advancing sustainable packaging, offering high-quality products with reduced environmental impact.

Gittan Schi√∂ld, interim CEO of Paboco, said: “We are collaborating across the value chain, sharing the risks and are united in our vision that the paper bottle will become a reality and fundamentally change this industry for good.“