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Absolut Vodka in Lightweight, Recyclable Paper-Based Bottles
Can be recycled "as paper through normal household waste"
Absolut has announced they're rolling out paper-based bottles for their vodka. Tesco, a UK supermarket chain, will sell the 500ml bottles in the Manchester area for a three-month trial this summer. Absolut says the molded bottles are "100% bio-based" and "made from 57% paper with an integrated barrier of recyclable plastic."
The bottles are made by Paboco, the paper bottle pioneer that also makes beer brand Carlsberg's paper bottles. Paboco describes their bottles as being 85% paper, with the HDPE liner making up the other 15%. (We assume they've bumped the HDPE liner up to 43% for Absolut's custom bottle to prevent the hooch from eating through it.)
Despite the plastic contents, Absolut claims that "Customers can simply recycle the packaging as paper through normal household waste." It is not clear how this works.
Since both glass and paper can be recycled in the UK, you may be wondering why they're bothering with paper. Well, the paper Absolut bottle is some eight times lighter, the company says, which perhaps reduces shipping costs. It also certainly makes it easier for the consumer to carry, like in a backpack at Glastonbury. "Absolut believes consumers will use the paper bottles," they write, "in out-of-home occasions such as festivals."
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So, single, pure recyclable material (glass) replaced with impure "recyclable" material. Bottle design maintains existing form factor and metal cap to retain brand identity, but seems sub-optimized for the "out-of-home" occasions like festivals. Lack of broken glass scenarios or locations that simply don't allow glass sounds great. If it was about saving weight, perhaps create a new, cool format that is, I don't know, designed for the occasion? A second thought: HDPE bottles are mono-material, probably more easily recyclable (both paper and HDPE see degradation as they are recycled), and don't create the potential consumer anxiety of degrading when in a bath of ice-water in a cooler. Seems like a bioplastic based solution might have been a better solution space? I get that paper-based solutions seem to be the new fad in (borderline) greenwashing, so if this is a solution that works better than I am guessing, and the UK recycling system is better than that in the Midwest USA, I will concede my points.