Croxsons unveils Rightweight Glass Bottles, slashing material use by 30% after 16 years of development

UK – Croxsons has rolled out Rightweight, a new glass packaging solution engineered to reduce bottle and jar weight by up to 30 percent without compromising structural integrity, following a 16-year development journey spanning multiple product categories.

The UK-based glass packaging specialist designed the Rightweight approach to remove unnecessary glass from each package while preserving product strength.

By reducing overall glass use, the company notes that packaging becomes easier to recycle, generates less landfill waste, and reduces extended producer responsibility costs for packaging producers.

By the Numbers: Real-World Reductions

The technology is already delivering measurable results across product lines.

A 330ml “Mountain” soft drinks bottle using the Rightweight design has achieved a 9.5 percent reduction in weight per unit.

More dramatically, the 700ml “Apollo” spirits bottle, suitable for gin, rum, tequila, vodka, and whisky—now weighs 400 grams instead of the previous 575 grams, representing a 30 percent material reduction.

Tim Croxson, CEO of Croxsons, explained that Rightweight reflects the company’s approach to bottle and jar design by creating packaging engineered to be exactly what it needs to be.

He emphasized that the solution balances aesthetics, performance, and presentation while increasingly balancing sustainability with practicality.

It helps reduce material use without sacrificing performance, ensures compatibility with high-speed filling operations, and gives customers reassurance of quality and authenticity.

Engineering for the Full Lifecycle

The 16-year development process focused on optimizing every aspect of the bottle’s journey.

Croxson noted that when developing a bottle or jar to Rightweight standards, the company considers how it will be filled, handled, and transported; how reliably it performs on automated filling lines; how effectively it protects the product inside; how it looks and feels in the consumer’s hand; and how efficiently it uses material without compromising performance.

The approach aligns with broader industry trends toward material efficiency.

According to the European Container Glass Federation, reducing bottle weight by 10 percent can cut CO₂ emissions by approximately 5 to 7 percent across the value chain.

Croxsons’ 30 percent reduction in the Apollo bottle could translate to estimated emissions savings of 15 to 21 percent compared to the previous design.

Market Implications and Future Rollout

Croxsons plans to extend the Rightweight technology to other products in its range over the coming months, applying the same engineering principles to a broader portfolio of bottles and jars.

For packaging producers, the material reduction carries direct economic benefits through lower EPR fees, which in the UK are calculated based on packaging weight and material type under the new extended producer responsibility regulations that took full effect in 2024.

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