The Coca-Cola Company has announced it will be trialing a paper bottle prototype in a limited run of 2,000 later this year. The test sales of the plant-based beverage AdeZ will be conducted in Hungary through the e-grocery retailer Kifli.hu.
Selling beverages in paper containers is as old as the milk carton, which was called a paper bottle back in 1915. However, they aren’t suitable for all beverages and certainly not for carbonated ones that need something a bit more robust. That being said, a paper bottle is very attractive from an environmental point of view, since paper is biodegradable and relatively easy to recycle.
In 2020, Coca-Cola’s R&D division in Brussels, along with the Danish startup Paper Bottle Company (Paboco) and working with Carlsberg, L’Oréal and The Absolut Company, came up with a bottle consisting of a hard paper shell lined with a bio-based plastic that is also used for the cap.
Coca-Cola emphasizes that the bottle is still in development as the company assesses the prototype bottle’s performance, durability, and ability to protect its contents. That being said, Coca-Cola wants to go ahead with consumer testing to determine how it performs in the real world and measure how well people take to the new receptacle.
The ultimate goal is to produce a 100-percent recyclable bottle for beverages and other products that can stand up to liquids, carbon dioxide, and oxygen. Ideally, the bottle would be made entirely from recycled materials and could be recycled itself as paper.
“The trial we are announcing today is a milestone for us in our quest to develop a paper bottle,” says Daniela Zahariea, director of technical supply chain and innovation, Coca?Cola Europe. “People expect Coca?Cola to develop and bring to market new, innovative and sustainable types of packaging. That’s why we are partnering with experts like Paboco, experimenting openly and conducting this first in-market trial.”
Coca-Cola to test market paper bottle prototype in limited trial [New Atlas]