MÜLLER has partnered with Waitrose as part of a trial to scrap the blue, green and red caps used to signify the fat contents of milk.
The pair said that the move could boost the availability of rHDPE on the market by 1,560 tonnes per year – with it not yet possible to recycle coloured milk caps back into food grade packaging.
Research conducted by Müller found that consumers support such change, provided it further improves the availability of food grade recycled plastic material. With a further eight out of ten saying they would choose a bottle of milk which uses a clear cap over an unrecyclable coloured cap.
Waitrose will now launch Müller milk bottles using clear caps across all its 331 shops from 4 – 30 April.
Liam McNamara, commercial director at Müller Milk & Ingredients, said, “Everyone is thinking more about what they buy, the nutritional benefits, the value it represents and the packaging used. We want to be the partner of choice for our customers, we recognise the commitments they are making in this area, and following a successful trial period, then this is another step we can offer.
“As the first dairy company in the UK to trial clear caps on fresh milk, we are working hard to innovate and lead in issues that are not only important for customers, but for consumers too. In an industry that needs access to more rHDPE, we are really excited to collaborate with Waitrose across all of their shops and trial this additional solution. Our fresh milk bottles already contain up to 40% recycled material, but with access to more, we can partner with our customers to increase this further. But we will not stop there, we are also looking at ways to add recycled content into our clear-caps.”
Karen Graley, packaging innovation lead at Waitrose, added, “As food businesses, we need to do more to protect our planet from unnecessary plastic waste so we’re delighted to be involved in this trial. We have a proud heritage of being first to trial step-change innovations in this space – from rolling out the UK’s first refillables in-store to removing single use plastic toys in children’s magazines, and we are proud to be working alongside Müller to show that leadership again.”
