In this edition of the Packaging Innovation Dashboard, we explore beverage packaging innovations from Coca-Cola, Starbucks & Huhtamak, and Paboco.
Coca-Cola | PET Lightweighting in USA & Canada
Photo from The Coca-Cola Company
Earlier in 2024, the Coca-Cola Company redesigned some of their bottles (12, 16.9, and 20 oz) to be lightweighted from 21 to 18.5 g across US and Canadian markets in an effort to reduce the amount of new plastic used per year.
Packaging World reports that the measure is expected to reduce “annual use of new plastic” to the equivalent of ~800 million bottles in the year 2025 as compared to 2024. The lightweighting effort is also projected to reduce emissions by an amount equivalent to taking more than 17,000 cars off the road in the year 2025 as compared to 2024.
Alejandro Santamaria (Senior Director of Global Packaging Development & Innovation at the Coca-Cola Company) was quoted in a Packaging World article stating:
“Now, we’re bringing back the original contour shape to the North American market but have optimized and modernized it a bit. We’ve been continuously working to “right-weight” our bottles, incrementally going from 27 to 21 grams over the last 10 years.”
Read more on Coca Cola’s lightweighting project and Santamaria’s thoughts on how US and Canadian supply chains will react here.
Story from Packaging World
Paboco | Paper-Based Bottle
Photo from Paboco
Exciting innovation out of Copenhagen, Denmark!
In Q1 of 2024, Danish company Paboco, also known as the “Paper Bottle Company,” announced a full-scale production launch for their paper bottle, aptly called the Next Gen Paper Bottle.
Packaging Europe reports that Paboco plans to manufacture over 20 million paper-based bottles by 2025 year end. The Next Gen Paper Bottle is made of 85% paper and 15% HDPE barrier, which is recyclable in a paper packaging waste stream. The bottle is also durable and splash-resistant, with applications in beauty, spirits, food and beverage, medicine, pet care, and more.
With the rise of paperization in the global packaging industry and EPR for packaging laws that include higher fees for plastic packaging materials, it will be interesting to see how the market responds to innovation like Paboco’s and whether other brands step up with paper-based beverage packaging solutions.
Read more on the innovation and Paboco’s bottle here.
Story from Packaging Europe
Starbucks & Huhtamaki | Compostable Cups Trial
Photo from Packaging Dive
In Q3 of this year, Starbucks announced a partnership with Huhtamaki to trial compostable cups for cold drink orders in select stores in Minnesota and California (both states with EPR for packaging laws).
The cups are fiber-based and were created by Huhtamaki, a Finland-based sustainable packaging provider with origins in the early 1920s.
Anna O’Hara, President | North America at Huhtamaki, was quoted in a recent Sustainability Magazine article, stating:
"It might just look like a simple molded fiber lid for a cold drink, but it is not as easy as it looks and, not to be dramatic, but it is our destiny to be the partner of choice on sustainable packaging of this type. We’re one step closer to being everyone’s first choice in sustainable packaging solutions."
Read more on the partnership between Starbucks and Huhtamaki bringing compostable cups to select US markets here.
Story from Sustainability Magazine
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