REFRESCO, the world’s largest independent packer and filler of juice, has given its backing to ReZorce as a new partnership resumes development on the multi-award-winning mono-material beverage carton solution from a dedicated pilot and early-stage production facility near Boston, Massachusetts.
ReZorce Ltd, a newly formed UK-based company headed by Neil Court-Johnston and other key members of the original ReZorce team, will take forward development of the ‘once in a generation’ sustainable alternative to composite packaging and ultimately see it hit shelves globally.
The firm secured the IP for ReZorce following Zotefoams’ announcement on 4 November 2025 that it would cease investment in ReZorce’s development as, under new leadership, it looks to focus attention back to its core offerings.
Formerly president of Zotefoams’ Mucell divison, which led in ReZorce’s development, Neil now takes up the role as chief executive officer of ReZorce Ltd and has built a team featuring the core innovators behind ReZorce’s development over the past five years.
“The heavy lifting has been done already with the work we’ve carried out over the past five years,” Neil told Packaging Scotland, before revealing the ‘very, very high level’ of interest from UK retailers. “We need to finish the job now in terms of food safety accreditation and shelf-life accreditation – the moment we have that complete, we very much expect to see ReZorce cartons on shelves of major UK retailers.”
News that ReZorce is once again progressing has been welcomed by stakeholders across various sectors globally. Perhaps most notably by Paul Polman, who previously stated that ReZorce would be a solution he’d have looked to utilise had it been around during his time of leading Unilever from 2009 until 2019.
In a recently published open letter, Paul – who is a sustainable development goals advocate at the UN and also previously led Nestlé America and Proctor and Gamble’s European arm – offered his services to the ReZorce team in its launch and scale up.
Stating ‘the world needs fast commercialisation of technologies like this’, key to Paul’s long-term support of ReZorce is his belief that ‘recyclable’ is a ‘deeply empty word’ – instead asserting that, going forward, the world must prioritise ‘recycled’.
The fully-recyclable, mono-material barrier ReZorce packaging technology is made primarily from high-density polyethylene and has the potential to incorporate up to 70% mechanically recycled content, thus allowing for a closed-loop, or carton-to-carton recycling system, compliant with the highest thresholds set out in legislation such as the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations (PPWR).
Boasting ‘outstanding recyclability’, it is designed to be compatible with existing household streams across the globe – with completed trials by Biffa and Veolia confirming compatibility.
Peer-reviewed life cycle assessments have also revealed that a one-litre ReZorce carton uses half the energy required for a traditional packaging board carton, as well as having a global warming potential that is 55% lower and utilises 51% less water.
With extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) now in operation in the UK, Neil explained that ReZorce will become increasingly commercially beneficial for brands and retailers as eco-modulation of fees kicks in from 2026-27, with packaging classified as more recyclable earning a reduction in fees. “We hope that ultimately, ReZorce will cut costs for consumers, whilst meeting the increasing demand for sustainable packaging alternatives,” he says.
“The work the (ReZorce) team has done for the last five years has a moral purpose, a noble purpose, and it’s ultimately the right thing to do,” Neil said, after being asked what motivated the relaunch. “The legislation, the fiscal policy actually supports that (decision) going forward… choosing to do the right thing is also going to save everybody money.”
Production is expected to get underway in Boston at the end of Q1 2026. Currently, some 160 separate parts – weighing over 200 metric tonnes with a capacity for producing 100 million cartons per year – are being shipped from ReZorce’s pilot plant in Denmark to the US facility.
From there, ReZorce will meet the demand for the innovation – with Neil describing the new base as a ‘game-changer’. It sees the technology behind ReZorce, which was harvested from the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology, return home and crucially, all operations now sit side-by-side in one location – a far cry from before, where it was spread in different locations across Europe.
“That is critically important – everything is in one place and that will massively speed up commercialisation of the technology,” Neil added, before revealing that Refresco has provided technical resources in the form of packing and filling lines, which will aid in validating the microbiological accelerator shelf testing validation required for commercialisation.
Neil went on to say, “When considering the MBO, I met with Refresco’s CEO and asked him, ‘In our shoes, what would you do?’ His advice was ‘Take the first step – opportunities like this are few and far between.’”
Refresco has been as good as its word, supporting this new phase of the project, providing loan equipment and world-class technical support, which, said Neil, has been ‘invaluable’ and will continue to be so, “It’s uplifting to be supported by a world leader determined to future-proof sustainable packaging materials.”
Focus now turns to getting the Boston facility set up and the final few accreditations secured. With high levels of interest from major UK retailers, Neil revealed that ReZorce could launch to the market sooner in non-food categories – such as laundry and personal care.
“This is a very, very positive and fulfilling mission to be on – to have a propriety technology that can make a positive difference to the world and, as a parent, your legacy and all your work has to be positive,” Neil concluded, after being asked if increasing environmental concerns has put pressure on the team to get ReZorce out as quickly as possible.
“No, it’s not a negative pressure – it’s a really positive pressure and there is a sense of urgency from us,” he continued. “We’ve just had Hurricane Melissa and saw the enormous damage it caused in the Caribbean – climate change is a reality and creating solutions and tackling that reality is incredibly important.”
Packaging Scotland intends to follow ReZorce’s development throughout as it nears launching on shelves.
