While glass has been the go-to packaging for many brands with sustainability missions, glass is far from perfect. It takes a lot of energy to create and recycle glass bottles and many are not recycled, especially in geographies with poor recycling infrastructure. Glass bottles that aren’t recycled can last hundreds of years in the natural environment, and if broken can create a safety hazard to humans and animals.

No single organization or industry can solve the plastic waste challenge on their own. Pulpex Limited, a new world-leading sustainable packaging technology company, has established a partner consortium of world-leading FMCG companies in non-competing categories, including Unilever, Diageo, PepsiCo, and Pilot Lite, to ensure that the technology can be used in every area of life.

Pulpex Limited has developed a first-of-its-kind scalable paper-based bottle designed and developed to be 100% plastic-free and expected to be fully recyclable. The bottle is made from sustainably sourced pulp to meet food-safe standards and will be fully recyclable in standard waste streams.

The technology will allow brands to rethink their packaging designs, or move existing designs into paper. The technology is capable of producing a variety of plastic-free, single-mold bottles that can be used across a range of consumer goods and has been designed to contain a variety of liquid products.

“Innovative solutions and partnerships are critical to driving meaningful progress toward a circular economy. The Pulpex consortium is well-positioned to deliver sustainable packaging at scale and across industries, having an impact beyond what any organization could achieve alone. We’re proud to be a part of it,” said Simon Lowden, Chief Sustainability Officer at PepsiCo.

Richard Slater, Chief R&D Officer, Unilever, said, “We believe in tackling plastic waste through innovation and collaboration. We are going to halve our use of virgin plastic at Unilever, reducing our use of plastic packaging by more than 100,000 tonnes in the next five years. Joining forces to develop and test paper bottles is an incredibly exciting step forward, and we’re delighted to be working together to tackle one of the biggest environmental challenges of our time.”

Sandy Westwater, Director, Pilot Lite said, “We’re thrilled to be working with global brand leaders in this consortium. By working together, we can use the collective power of the brands to help minimize the environmental footprint of packaging by changing manufacturing and consumer behaviors.”

The scale and reach of this consortium will allow the technology to accelerate change and meaningful progress through collaborative, holistic solutions. The consortium partners are each expecting to launch their own branded paper bottles, based on Pulpex Limited’s design and technology, in 2021.