Carlsberg Announces New Fibre Bottle (Made With Wood Fibers)

Meet the Fibre Bottle: the most innovative bottle? Probably Launching today, our new Fibre Bottle is a big step towards a better beer bottle. Do we still have some way to go? Probably. See more here: http://cb-g.co/bRm

Outer shell made of wood fibers, inner lining made of plant-based polymers, the bottle is fully bio-based (excluding the cap) and recyclable…

The Fibre Bottle embodies our founders’ pioneering spirit, our scientific approach to improving our products, and our constant pursuit of betterment. As a fully bio-based and recyclable packaging solution, the Fibre Bottle is an exciting open innovation project for a better beer bottle.

The Fibre Bottle is primarily made of natural wood fibres which come from FSC-certified sources in Northern Europe. Certified suppliers follow responsible forestry practices where 2-3 new trees are planted for every tree harvested, and where harvesting times are optimised with minimum tree growth periods and with maximum CO2 sequestration efficiency by younger trees.

With its wood fibre outer shell and its plant-based PEF polymer inner lining, the Fibre Bottle is full bio-based (excluding the cap) and recyclable (including the cap). Made of natural materials, the body of the bottle can enter conventional PET-recycling systems or otherwise degrade in nature.

PEF is a highly effective barrier between the beer and fibre shell, capable of protecting the beer’s quality so that consumers can enjoy the same fresh Carlsberg taste, and insulating the beer better than conventional glass or cans to keep the beer colder for longer.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 21, 2022 - In its largest pilot project to date, Carlsberg Group today revealed the trial of its new fiber bottle, putting a bottle of fiber into the hands of consumers for the first time. bio-based and fully recyclable beer. With a continued focus on evolving technology and sustainable practices, the bottle also contains beer brewed with regenerative, organic barley.

Vital to accelerating Carlsberg's ambition to make the beer bottle a commercial reality, the pilot project will see 8,000 fiber bottles tested in eight Western European markets: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, UK, Poland, Germany and France. The bottles will be put into the hands of local consumers, customers and other stakeholders through select festivals and flagship events, as well as specific product samples. Testing on this scale will give Carlsberg the opportunity to gather feedback on people's experiences with the product, which will inform the next generation of designs.

The new fiber bottle harnesses the potential of PEF

An important milestone for the fiber bottle is its plant-based PEF polymer coating, which has been developed by Avantium, a Carlsberg partner and expert in renewable chemistry. PEF is made entirely from natural raw materials, is compatible with plastic recycling systems and can degrade in nature if it ends up outside national recycling systems. Beyond its sustainable packaging benefits, PEF functions as a highly effective barrier between the beer and the outer fiber shell, protecting the flavor and fizz of the beer better than conventional fossil fuel-based PET plastic.

The outer shell of the bottle, produced by the packaging company Paboco, is made from sustainably sourced wood fiber and is also bio-based. This lining has the added benefit of its insulating properties, which can help keep beer colder for longer, compared to cans or glass bottles.

Stephane Munch, Vice President of Carlsberg Group Development, said: "We are delighted to put our new bottle of fiber in the hands of consumers, allowing them to experience it for themselves. This pilot will test the production, performance and recycling of this product. to scale."

"Identifying and producing PEF, as a competent functional barrier for beer, has been one of our biggest challenges, so getting good results in the tests, collaborating with suppliers and seeing how the bottles are filled on the line is a great achievement ".

The bottle is 100% bio-based, except for the cap, which is currently required to ensure product quality, and together the bottle and cap are fully recyclable. Going forward, Paboco, Carlsberg and their partners in the Paper Bottle Community are exploring alternative fiber-based closures, with a generic solution planned for 2023. Carlsberg will continue development, together with Avantium and Paboco, to arrive at a 3.0 solution. as it is equally suitable for primary beer packaging, using this year's consumer feedback and Paboco developments.

Made with unconventional barley

The advances have not been limited to the bottle itself, as Carlsberg has also bottled a more sustainable beer for its 2022 consumer tests. In collaboration with barley malt supplier Soufflet, Carlsberg has brewed a beer using barley grown with environmentally friendly practices. totally ecological and regenerative agriculture. More specifically, cover crops have been grown on the organic barley fields to provide some additional benefits of regenerative agriculture.

Although consumers can expect the same characteristic Carlsberg flavor, the methods used to grow the barley improve farmland biodiversity, improve soil health, and increase the soil's natural carbon sequestration compared to conventional farming methods. conventional cultivation.

The constant search for improvements

The Fiber Bottle Generation 2.0 already outperforms the single-use glass bottle in product life cycle assessment, and Carlsberg has even higher ambitions for the subsequent Generation 3.0 design. Carlsberg's vision, supported by current projections, is for the fiber bottle to achieve up to 80% lower emissions than current single-use glass bottles.

Thus, for every single-use glass bottle created, five fiber bottles could be created with the same carbon footprint. Ultimately, Carlsberg intends the fiber bottle to have the same carbon footprint as the refillable glass bottle, which is currently the best performing primary packaging when collected and reused in efficient systems. When the fiber bottle is commercialized on a large scale, it will expand Carlsberg's consumer choice and complement, rather than replace, existing packaging such as glass bottles and cans.