Underneath what circumstances will customers purchase vodka in a paper bottle, quite than glass? How will retailers merchandise this feature? Will folks know the right way to recycle the containers as soon as they’re empty? 

These are three questions that iconic model Absolut is exploring this summer season within the U.Ok. metropolis of Manchester with a particular 500-milliliter paper bottle bought in choose Tesco shops.

The mission is a part of an ongoing collaboration between 4 client manufacturers giants — Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, Procter & Gamble and L’Oreal — and a packaging enterprise known as Paboco (The Paper Bottle Firm). The quartet of manufacturers is a part of a “Pioneer Group” working with Paboco, a three way partnership created a number of years in the past between Swedish paper packaging firm BillerudKorsnäs and Austrian plastic packaging producer Alpla to discover the potential advantages of paper versus different materials choices, together with glass, aluminum and plastic.

The manufacturers all have barely completely different agendas and have been testing varied paper bottle prototypes for the higher a part of a decade, however that is the primary time a paper-based bottle has been commercially supplied in U.Ok. shops by a world spirits firm, based on Absolut. It’s a restricted run (the corporate didn’t disclose what number of have been produced), so once they’re gone, the trial can be over.

Absolut beforehand distributed samples of a special product, its Mixt ready-to-drink beverage, at festivals within the U.Ok. and Sweden. There’s an enormous distinction within the alcohol content material between that product and the vodka — 5 p.c alcohol by quantity (ABV) for Mixt versus 40 p.c ABV for vodka — and that’s one issue that Absolut can be finding out. The corporate had to make sure that the packaging didn’t affect the vodka’s style.

“This launch is a worthwhile alternative to measure insights on the bottle’s sensible implementation inside a real-world system,” mentioned Elin Furelid, director of future packaging for Absolut, which is a part of Pernod Ricard, the world’s second-largest wine and spirits producer.

A bottle designed to journey gentle

One cause Absolut selected the summer season months to check this specific bottle was as a result of it’s lighter than glass alternate options and simpler for folks to hold round — an empty 500ml glass bottle weighs 403 grams versus 46 grams for the paper one. “The bottle is good for out-of-home use, not solely as it’s lighter however it’s much less prone to break so it may be used for touring, festivals and picnics,” Furelid mentioned. 

The paper bottles are priced about $20.30, versus $25.40 for a 700ml glass bottle, so that’s one issue that can be evaluated.

Absolut may even be calculating the transportation affect on its distribution channel of the lighter materials, which it mentioned has a decrease carbon footprint than commonplace glass bottles.

The upside of paper = a longtime recycling community

The bottles are made out of wooden fibers licensed by the Forest Stewardship Council, and so they comprise an built-in moisture barrier to stop the liquid from leaking by way of. Technically, 85 p.c of the packaging is paper; the remaining is made out of a high-density polyethylene that Paboco mentioned is as “recyclable a paper packaging.” The longer-term objective is for a totally bio-based product. Proper now, the corporate makes two sizes of the bottle — 500ml and 330ml — that manufacturers can customise and use.

Absolut invested appreciable effort in speaking up the bottle on its social media channels. One factor it centered on: Ensuring customers knew that these containers, though they appeared completely different, have been simply as recyclable as glass — and that they might be positioned inside conventional paper and cardboard recycling bins.

Town of Manchester was chosen for this check as a result of it had the recycling infrastructure to deal with the bottles. It additionally has a better family recycling price than different areas within the U.Ok. at about 50 p.c in contrast with England’s 44 p.c nationwide common, Furelid mentioned.

Absolut is gathering suggestions from customers, retailers and distributors, and it’ll use these metrics to make additional refinements to the packaging.

“To us, success means invoking actual and long-lasting behavioral change each throughout the business and with customers,” Furelid mentioned. “That is why it has been so necessary to create a product that not solely generates pleasure but in addition will increase consciousness of sustainability and provides customers choices that meet their wants. We imagine will probably be unlikely that one materials will exchange all however as an alternative that buyers will use a mixture of packaging that’s sustainably made and recyclable.”

Paboco is on no account the one firm engaged on paper bottles. Maintain your eyes on British firm Frugalpac. It lately inked a contract with Monterey Wine Co., which plans to make use of its packaging. Frugal Bottles are constructed from 94 p.c recycled paperboard, with a meals grade pouch. They weigh 83 grams unfilled, about 5 occasions lighter than the glass different. The packaging is presently getting used for about 120 sorts of wines, spirits and olive oils. It additionally has “bottle filling” services in Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Scandinavia, South Africa, Spain and the U.Ok. 

Editor’s observe: Absolut has promised to share classes it realized from the Paboco bottle trial this fall. Watch GreenBiz.com for an replace on its future plans.