Carlsberg Remains Committed to Wood Fibre Plant-Based Bottles Despite Project Delay

Carlsberg has restated its enthusiasm for the ‘Fibre Bottle’ sustainable packaging concept, over three years after unveiling the project.

In mid-2022, the brewer released details of the packaging alternative, which consists of an outer layer made from wood fibre and a plant-based polyethylene furanoate (PEF) inner lining. The latter, produced by Amsterdam-based Avantium, is yet to be available at scale beyond 2022’s 8,000-unit pilot.

Speaking to selected media at the company’s Copenhagen headquarters last week, global head of sustainability & ESG Simon Boas Hoffmeyer, admitted that progress had been slower than he hoped. “In our initial announcement on this, we said we’d have to wait for Avantium to build their plant,” he said. “That is still the case. The site was supposed to be up and running in Q4 but has been postponed to Q2 next year.

“It’s really not with my approval that it’s taking so long to find the right barrier, but if it was easy, then everybody would have done it. We’re still working on it but without a functional, bio-based recyclable barrier, a paper bottle will be less sustainable than my ambition is for this project.”

Boas Hoffmeyer put the delay down to “a combination of financing and technology”. He added: “Avantium is a start-up company and they have to make it work. This will also be the first plant of its kind in the world.

“Once Avantium is able to make PEF at scale, then we can actually trial it in earnest.”

Avantium officially opened its FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) production facility in Delfzijl in Holland last month. The site is scheduled to come fully on stream early next year.