Ribena leads green charge with 100% recycled bottles

by Alex Donohue Brand Republic 26-Sep-07, 08:40

LONDON - Ribena is upping the ante in the green battle with plans to dramatically increase the amount of recycled plastic used in its ready-to-drink bottles from 40% to 100%.

The soft drinks manufacturer said it would be making all of its plastic Ribena ready-to-drink bottles, which sell 60m individual units in the UK every year, 100% recyclable from next month.

Ribena currently uses plastics made from recyclable Polyethylene Terephthalate, with 40% of bottles from recycled rPET materials. The company has now pledged to only use rPET plastic for its Ribena drinks bottles from next month.

In addition, the GlaxoSmithKline-owned company said it planned to extend its recycling initiative across the Ribena squash range in the next six months.

The company said three-quarters of its consumers believed it had a duty to recycle, but that 13m plastic bottles went to landfill every day, creating a need for improved recycling facilities in the UK to meet consumer demand.

Anne MacCaig, marketing director at Ribena, said: "The announcement hasn't been without its challenges but it is a major step forward for sustainable packaging.

"With nine out of 10 consumers saying they think it would be a good thing if packaging contained recycled plastic, we're confident that they will welcome the move to 100% recycled plastic."

Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline is working with recycling group Recoup on a trial campaign to increase awareness for environmental issues by installing "reverse vending machines" that allow users to recycle packaging at four locations across England.