Nampak reaches 30% recycled content for milk bottle

Nampak Plastics of the UK has trialled, tested and supplied the world’s first four-pint milk bottle containing up to 30% recycled high density polyethylene (rHDPE), the company says. The move which will save the dairy industry around 25,000 tonnes of virgin material each year.  The company estimates that there has been a 50% reduction in the carbon footprint of milk bottles produced at its British plants since 2008, saving some 113,000 tonnes of carbon overall.

The Infini bottle is already stocked in a number of major retailers, with over 100,000,000+ bottles sold through Marks & Spencer, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s. Infini is now confirmed as the lightest and, more importantly, the strongest bottle on the market. Nampak’s design and engineering team is always working on further innovations and is now aspiring to enhance designs to even lighter weights.

Eric Collins, managing director of Nampak Plastics, says: “We had a desire to increase the amount of recycled HDPE in Nampak’s bottles to up to 30% by 2015 – in line with the Dairy UK and Defra Milk Roadmap targets – but have been able to prove that this landmark can be reached well ahead of this schedule. All of our bottles, including the Infini range, currently contain up to 15% but the move to up to 30% is a major step forward for everyone involved in the British milk industry.”

Recent figures from Recoup, the recycling charity, show that 77% of HDPE milk bottles are recycled, making it one of the most widely recycled forms of packaging in the country.