Alternatives to traditional packaging materials such as glass and plastic have been gaining traction as trailblazers find new ways to create viable counterparts which offer the same durability, shelf-life and quality markers.
Fibre-based packaging is among the options set to help move the world to a more circular system, having already been used in bags, boxes and cartons for several years. But it’s porous nature and hygroscopic tendency of fibres have largely limited its use beyond ‘secondary’ packaging.
While glass is fully recyclable and can be reused multiple times, it can be energy-intensive to produce and weighty to transport and store.
Paper on the other hand is the most commonly and widely recycled packaging material in Europe. Its well-established recovery streams, coupled with already-ingrained consumer behaviour means collection rates for this kind of packaging normally reach high double figures.
Now, a collation of companies including PulPac, PA Consulting, and Diageo have found a way to use this material for bottled drinks helping to move the dial towards circularity a little bit closer.
In 2023, PulPac and PA Consulting launched the Bottle Collective – of which Diageo is a founding member. Among the goals of the group is to create a fibre bottle alternative to help minimise single-use plastic bottles in FMCG industries.
This project centres on PulPac’s Dry Molded Fibre technology and uses renewable pulp and cellulose resources to produce low-cost, high-performance fibre-based packaging.
The patented manufacturing process is said to use less carbon dioxide than plastic and conventional wet moulding options, with virtually no water used in the manufacturing process. The outcome is a very versatile container mould for brands and retailers.
A thin plastic liner is still needed, but this is not bonded to the fibre layer; meaning it’s easier to separate during recycling and can be used with most mechanical processes. The removal of the layer can even happen during kerbside collection, with the pressure from collection vehicles enough to separate it from the outer layer. However, collection and sorting processes vary by geography, and the infrastructure is not in place everywhere for these bottles, so this is something the Collective is actively working on.
Creating parity with glass
A self-funded stage of the development process has allowed PA Consulting to essentially de-risk the concept, build early prototypes, and gather data that convinced global brand owners like Diageo that a fibre bottle was feasible.
“No matter how strategically important, no one client is going to foot the bill for such a large project. But what if you split this among six, seven, or eight different partners? Suddenly, that becomes palatable and easier to digest,” says Anthony Perrotta, sustainability and regenerative economy expert at PA Consulting.
It was also necessary to involve those building the lines that produce and fill bottles into the project at an early stage. This included Logoplaste and Krones, among others, joining the Collective.
“By tapping into specialist engineering partners instead of trying to design everything from scratch, we avoided reinventing the wheel all over again,” Perrotta adds.
“We shouldn’t and couldn’t develop a fibre bottle on our own. It has to be commercially scalable. Our focus is ensuring the first production line can reach up to 20 million bottles annually, establishing the base capability required before we can scale further.”
Diageo paper bottles
In 2024, Diageo undertook a real-life consumer trial which saw mini bottles of Baileys packaged up in container made with 90% paper, a thin plastic liner (9%), and a foil seal (1%).
Diageo said initial reactions from consumers to the Baileys Mini paper-based bottle were positive, with 86% saying the fact it was made predominantly of paper was an “important and positive move by the brand”.
However, the three materials used in the bottle created confusion when it came to recycling the product.
In a later trial, ran between September and October 2024, the brand tested an updated version of the technology on its Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky. This time, the 70cl paper bottle was made from 90% paper and a very thin plastic liner.
The design team also took learnings from the technical aspects of the miniature format, to make a larger and more complex shape for Johnnie Walker.
The bottle’s design retained the iconic square shape of Johnnie Walker Black Label, whilst enhancing the premium appeal with unique facets cut into the sides of the bottle and embossing of the Striding Man on the bottle and closure.
The packaging made the bottle around 60% lighter than glass alternatives, with almost half the CO2e.
Ahead of the trial run, there was also extensive testing for alcohol loss and quality impact.
Perrotta explains: “Spirits are heavily regulated, so if we have any mass loss in the bottle, that changes the proof level of the contents and would run afoul of all sorts of laws.
“We had their [Diageo] flavour specialists constantly ensuring the product tasted like Johnnie Walker throughout the development and commercialisation process to make sure we didn’t taint the product.”
“The fibre bottle had to pass the same rigorous sensory scrutiny as any new glass format, and we were able to pass those tests.”
A powerful catalyst
The hope is that the Jonnie Walker project will act as a catalyst for more industry players to embrace paper-based solutions.
Perrotta believes that brands that “lean into experimentation” and “showcase their progress” are set to benefit, enabling them to shape future norms rather than reacting to them.
However, he notes that for such alternative materials to be “taken seriously at scale”, they must not risk compromising the product or consumer experience.
“That balance is not fully resolved yet, and like any meaningful breakthrough, it takes time to get right.”