This summer, Coca-Cola will test its prototype paper bottle with 2,000 consumers in Hungary for the first time. The consumers in one of Hungary’s fastest growing online grocery retailers will see and experience the paper bottles of 250ml AdeZ.
Last year, Coca-Cola unveiled its first-ever paper bottle, which is being developed in a partnership between scientists at Coca-Cola’s research and development laboratories in Brussels, and a Danish startup, The Paper Bottle Company (Paboco).
Poboco developed a technology to create 100% recyclable bottles made of sustainably sourced wood with a biological material barrier suitable for liquid goods such as carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, beauty products, among others. The current prototype consists of a paper casing with a recyclable plastic lining and cap. The paper bottles are 100% able to withstand the pressure of gas drinks.
Ultimately, the project’s goal and objective are to develop a bottle without the plastic liner that can be recycled as paper, and the company is excited about the potential for the technology and the opportunity to learn from this trial.
The innovative new packaging format will be trialed with Coca‑Cola’s plant-based drink, AdeZ, in just a few months’ time, although Coca-Cola emphasizes that the bottle is still under development. The brand plans to collect a bottle or can that it sells by 2030, with 100% recyclability and zero waste.
“The trial we are announcing today is a milestone for us in our quest to develop a paper bottle,” said Daniela Zahariea, Director of Technical Supply Chain & Innovation for Coca‑Cola Europe.
The Coca-Cola group was recently ranked the world’s number one plastic polluter by the charity’ Break Free From Plastic’ in its annual survey. Many major brands in the food industry are now announcing measures to reduce or even eliminate plastic from their packaging.
