UK – UK-based innovator Cullen Packaging has unveiled a next-generation, sustainable alternative to plastic bottles and pouches for dry goods packaging.
Simply referred to as ‘The Fibre Bottle’, the new offering is made for companies that produce dry goods like vitamins, supplements, dry foods, homecare, and horticulture products.
According to the firm, the bottle will help companies get rid of 270 million single-use plastic bottles or pouches each year from store shelves.
The bottle comprises 100% natural materials, recycled cardboard, and water, making it biodegradable and compostable, compared with traditionally used plastic that remains in a landfill for 200-1,000 years.
It comes in only one design iteration, but Cullen can customise it into any size or colour according to the need of the FMCG sector.
The sustainable packaging solution will help remove 270 million plastic bottles or pouches from shelves a year.
Once approved, the sustainable modules can be produced rapidly and cheaply at a commercial scale which will eventually allow more brands to switch from plastic to Cullen’s eco-friendly substitutes, said the company.
The Fibre Bottle is ready for a commercial rollout, with Cullen Packaging manufacturing ‘hundreds of millions’ of moulded fibre bottles for the healthcare sector across 34 countries.
Cullen owner David MacDonald said: “While there are some great pilot and small-scale plastic-free bottle innovations, The Fibre Bottle by Cullen is the only one that can be produced affordably at a commercial scale.
“The fibre-based packaging market is £8.65 billion (US$10 billion) per year and we’re already one of its most established, major players. And we can produce 270 million Fibre Bottles per year from today.
“It’s not just bright innovation and smart design that will allow us to remove single-use plastic from shelves, but expert manufacturing at real scale and a cost that rivals or beats the alternatives. And that’s where Cullen is at already.”
Commenting on the new product, Sian Sutherland, co-founder of A Plastic Planet said “In single-use packaging, carbon footprint and general eco-friendliness of moulded fibre products are significantly better when compared to plastic.
“For a single-use packaging product of the same size and functionality, moulded fibre has a 63% lower CO2 emission as compared to polystyrene and a 150% lower as compared to PET.
“Ideas are a start, but implementation is everything. Cullen’s ability to scale rapidly and execute a big vision gives us hope that we can stop huge amounts of damage being done to the planet.”
Based in Glasgow, Cullen is Europe’s only combined manufacturer of moulded fibre and corrugate packaging.
Its products are already almost everywhere, in all shapes, sizes and colours, protecting everything from avocados and coffee to laptops, vacuums expensive wine and much more.
The company itself uses a closed-loop recycling system that cleverly utilises the waste they produce from their corrugated manufacturing process to make their moulded fibre products including The Fibre Bottle.
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