Britvic backs recycling consortium in war on waste

The soft drinks supplier has joined forces with other global businesses to promote a ground-breaking recycling technology to support a circular economy for plastics.

The new technology is called BP Infinia and means opaque and difficult to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste can be made into new plastic again and again, with no loss in quality. The new cross-industry consortium has committed to work together to make BP Infinia mainstream.

BP Infinia has the potential to revolutionise the plastic packaging industry and prevent millions of tonnes of plastic from entering landfill. Energy and petrochemicals producer BP is already investing $25 million (£19.2m) in the technology. As part of the consortium pushing for the technology’s adoption, Britvic plans to contribute to the creation of a practical business model to ensure its successful adoption.

“To truly reinvent Britvic’s packaging, we must innovate with new low-impact packaging,"​ said Trystan Farnworth, director of sustainability at Britvic. "​This consortium is a cornerstone to delivering that pledge.​

Creating a circular economy​

“A challenge in creating a truly circular economy for PET is the fact that, as it stands, it is not infinitely recyclable. We have to solve this to become truly circular – it is not an option."​

The business will be teaming up with companies operating across the polyester packaging value chain to address the problem of plastic waste. It is joining forces with packaging and recycling specialist ALPLA; consumer goods producers Danone and Unilever; waste management and recycling specialist REMONDIS; and BP.

Since 2017, Britvic has removed more than 1,500 tonnes of plastic from its supply chain. All its plastic bottles, glass bottles and cans are recyclable and the company is a founding signatory of The UK Plastics Pact.

New recycled plastic facilities​

Last month the company entered into a long-term agreement with Esterform, one of the UK’s leading producers of recycled PET (rPET), investing £5m into the construction of new recycled plastic facilities in the UK. The deal secures Britvic’s access to locally sourced rPET long into the future.

The soft drinks firm is committed to working collaboratively to reduce its impact and, earlier this year, signed up to science-based targets, joining more than 310 companies worldwide that are committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a large scale. It also has independently verified company-wide emissions targets in line with climate science to help prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5°C and claims to be the first UK soft drinks company to do so​​.