Pernod Ricard-owned Absolut Vodka has become the latest to partner with the Paper Bottle Company (Paboco) to create a fully bio-based and recyclable paper bottle. The Absolut Company joined Coca-Cola, Carlsberg and L’Oréal in partnering with Denmark’s Paboco.

The Scottish lager brand, Tennent’s, is also scrapping plastic packaging by mid-2020. Budweiser and Stella Artois will phase out single-use plastic rings before that.

As with its other partnerships Paboco is working with designers and material experts and is about to launch a sustainable paper container that is capable of holding carbonated and still drinks, beauty products and more. The initiative aims to develop a fully-functional product made entirely of renewable fibres.

Paboco now has a recyclable and biodegradable paper bottle in scale production, challenging liquid packaging made from plastic, metal or other materials for a more sustainable packaging industry.

It consists of a bio-based barrier (PEF polymer film) that withstands both water vapour and oxygen transmission, even under high pressure. Digital direct printing of sustainable ink or laser engraving will be employed to minimise material usage.

The tethered cap is made from either a bio-composites or just pure paper. The pulp 3D moulding of wood-based fibres is done with amazing design details and accuracy, showing the beauty of paper.

Paboco uses strong wood fibres from sustainable, well managed forests – thanks to continuous replanting, there are more trees growing in this region today than 100 years ago. For every tree harvested, two to three are planted and allowed to grow to an optimal size.

Newly planted trees assimilate only small volumes of carbon dioxide – but their capacity then starts to increase dramatically. Growing trees bind more carbon dioxide than older trees. When the forest has finished growing, the net uptake of carbon dioxide is zero until the new forest is planted and starts to grow again. (www.paboco.com)