Pernod-Ricard owned vodka brand Absolut will pair a paper-based cap with its iconic Absolut Vodka glass bottle from as early as next year thanks to a tie-up with Swedish start-up Blue Ocean Closures.
The Absolut Company (Pernod Ricard) has tapped Sweden’s Blue Ocean Closures to develop a fiber-based cap. The biobased cap combines an FSC fiber body with a thin top-seal barrier layer. Recyclable in the standard paper stream, the cap is also said to be ocean biodegradable.
Prototyping and testing stages throughout 2022 will see several variants of the cap and commercialization is slated for 2023. Future packaging innovations integrating the paper closure will also be an area of study.
“We know that collaboration across the entire value chain sits at the heart of long-term progress and true environmental, economic, and social impact,” Eric Näf, Director of Packaging Development at The Absolut Company, said in a statement.
The Absolut Company is aiming for 100% of its packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. As a member of paper-bottle company Paboco’s “pioneer community, it announced last year a trial of the Absolut Paper Bottle prototype, and also revealed its “most sustainable bottle yet” made with 60% recycled glass.
Paboco is also working with Blue Ocean Closures on a fiber-based cap as it makes strides in its efforts to achieve a “recyclable and fully bio-based bottle”.
