Manufacturing & Supply Chain

Britvic, which is the largest supplier of branded still soft drinks in Great Britain and the number two supplier of branded carbonated soft drinks, has announced that Robinsons, Lipton Ice Tea and drench 500ml bottles are moving to 100% recycled plastic (rPET). The 500ml on-the-go bottles are the first to use recycled plastic from a new rPET manufacturing facility in North Yorkshire.

The facility, built by Esterform Packaging Limited following Britvic’s £5 million investment support in 2019, is powered by 100% renewable energy and provides Britvic with a secure supply of quality food-grade rPET in the UK.

Mark Tyne, Esterform’s Managing Director, said: “Our £20 million project to produce 42,000 tonnes of recycled food grade PET could not have got off the ground without Britvic’s support and we look forward to working together to rollout recycled PET usage across Britvic’s portfolio.”

By switching Robinsons, Lipton Ice Tea and drench 500ml bottles to rPET, Britvic will save 1,354 tonnes of virgin plastic every year. This is in addition to the 1,900 tonnes already saved by Ballygowan Mineral Water and Fruit Shoot Hydro switching to rPET bottles.

This move marks the latest milestone in Britvic’s Healthier People, Healthier Planet sustainability strategy and brings Britvic closer to its intention of moving all GB-made bottles to 100% rPET by the end of 2022.

Sarah Webster, Director of Sustainable Business at Britvic, said: “We are extremely proud and excited to see the first use of Esterpet in our iconic brands as they make the move to 100% rPET.

“It’s a fantastic example of the progress made in the facility with Britvic’s investment support and the first in a series of changes using Esterpet packaging as we continue our journey to fulfil our rPET commitment.”

Esterform Packaging LTD is the UK’s largest independent converter of PET and has supplied Britvic for over 15 years.

rPET is made from recycled plastics and has significant environmental benefits, including carbon footprint reduction and contributing towards creating an effective circular economy. Supporting the development of rPET in the UK is crucial for Britvic as sourcing packaging material locally rather than abroad will significantly reduce its direct carbon emissions output.

Britvic’s focus on sustainable packaging is reinforced by its commitment to an industry-led, not for profit and GB-wide Deposit Return Scheme to increase recycling levels.

Since 2018, Britvic has invested in the UK recycling infrastructure through its commitment to only purchase domestic Packaging Recovery Notes from UK recyclers. This means Britvic is invested solely in the UK’s recycling industry and not in exporting waste.

Britvic is one of the leading branded soft drinks businesses in Europe. The company combines its own leading brand portfolio including Fruit Shoot, Robinsons, Tango, J2O, London Essence, Teisseire and MiWadi with PepsiCo brands such as Pepsi, 7UP and Lipton Ice Tea which Britvic produces and sells in GB and Ireland under exclusive PepsiCo agreements.