Lucozade Ribena Suntory Ireland, through its parent company Suntory Beverage and Food Europe (SBFE) today sets out its plan to move to 100% sustainable plastic bottles within a decade.
By 2030 the company which makes Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport and Ribena said that it is fully moving away from virgin plastic derived from fossil fuels and moving forward it will use plastic that has been previously used or bio-sourced (plant-based).
“It is our founding promise to coexist with people and nature. Plastic waste is not acceptable – and we are investing to find new and innovative solutions to address this global issue,” said Peter Harding, CEO Suntory Beverage and Food Europe.
Embracing existing mechanical recycling processes – and investment in new, innovative technologies like enzymatic recycling and Japanese Flake to Preform processing – will be crucial for helping the company to make the change, the company said. .
“Our priorities are limiting our impact on natural resources, eliminating waste, and reducing our carbon footprint," Harding added.
"The changes and innovations we are making are massive – they are set to remove thousands of tonnes of new plastic made from fossil oil from our manufacturing operations every year."
'Reinvent the Lifecycle'
SBFE has already started to make the change with the announcement of a consortium with Carbios, a company pioneering new, bio-industrial solutions to reinvent the lifecycle of plastic and textile polymers, the group said in a statement.
For its packaging to be fully sustainable Lucozade Ribena Suntory Ireland is also making its packaging 100% recyclable to enable bottle-to-bottle recycling.
It will increase consumer communications and marketing campaigns to encourage recycling and responsible disposal and will ensure all packaging is clearly marked to show how it should be recycled.
"By 2030, we aim to use only plant-based materials or plastic that has been previously used to make our bottles," Mark Aherne, general manager at Lucozade Ribena Suntory Ireland (LRSI).
"Before this, by 2025, we will ensure that all of our packaging will be reusable or recyclable and we will reduce our use of plastic materials where we are able. We are ready and willing to invest the time, resource and money that will be needed to make this vision a reality.”
Lucozade Ribena Suntory Ireland also announced its plans to introduce a bottle redesign across its core drinks in the foreseeable future.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
