(petainer) -- Petainer has developed its 'greenest ever' refillable bottle - further improving the sustainability of what is already one of the most environmentallyfriendly forms of beverage packaging.
The new bottle is manufactured using more than 25 per cent post-consumer 'one-way' recycled PET
PolyEthylene Terephthalate plastic but has the same performance characteristics as a refillable bottle made entirely from virgin material.
Nigel Pritchard, group chief executive of Petainer, said: ⌠This is a very exciting development. Refillable bottles are already the beverage packing system with one of the lowest environmental footprints. This massive advance in the use of recycled material makes refillable bottles even more economic.
"They are 'eco-friendly' because they use up to 90 per cent less virgin material per filling. This performance is improved even further by the introduction of post-consumer recyclate which means that the bottles now require less energy and other resources to manufacture. They are also economic in the traditional sense because the environmental benefits translate into lower costs. As the cost of PET resins inexorably increases, the economics of refillable bottles using recycled material become even more compelling. "
"We believe these new containers have a good claim to be considered one of the world's most sustainable forms of beverage packaging. This will become even more the case as commodity resources become scarcer, costs rise and environmental impacts come more to the fore."
Petainer is now working with bottled water companies, carbonated drinks producers and brewers across Europe to put its new 'greener' refillable bottles into use.