Danish startup is partnering with the world’s largest beverage company

As part of its strategy and goal for a World Without Waste, the world’s largest beverage company, Coca-Cola has teamed up with a Danish startup that makes sustainable paper bottles. The current prototype consisting of a paper shell with a recyclable plastic lining and cap is designed to be 100% recyclable.

Up to 65% plastic reduction

Coca-Cola is to test a paper bottle as part of a long-term goal of producing zero waste by 2030. They have teamed up with The Paper Bottle Company, or Paboco, a Danish company with a single purpose: to pioneer the transformation to scalable paper bottles. Their first generation bottle is developed from a strong paper shell, which contains a thin recyclable plastic liner and cap. Ultimately, the goal is to create a bottle without the plastic liner and cap, that can be recycled as paper and is 100% biobased.

An idea backed by industry leaders

Industry giants have taken a keen interest in the project, with Coca-Cola having already initiated a trial of the first-generation paper bottles in Hungary. 2,000 units of Coca-Cola’s plant-based drink AdeZ will be distributed through a Hungarian grocery retailer, in order to clarify what consumers think about the product. It also allows Paboco and Coca-Cola to assess how the paper bottles fared on their voyage from the production to the filling plant to the grocery store and finally to the consumer recycling center. Paboco expects that the next generation of paper bottles will be available to the market within one and a half years, which is a major progression in their innovation journey.

Paboco is uniting leading global companies with the goal of promoting sustainable packaging and providing high-quality products with a lower environmental footprint. In addition to Coca-Cola, the company is also collaborating with Carlsberg, The Absolut Company and the cosmetics giant L’Oréal to develop paper bottles for beer, vodka and cosmetics products.

Source: Paboco