The bottle also will contain over 10 per cent recycled material high density polyethylene (rHDPE), with a target to push it up to 50 per cent by 2020, Arthur Reeves a spokesperson for Dairy Crest told DairyReporter.com.
New design
The firm said a key aim when designing the new bottle was to reduce the weight of materials used without affecting the bottle’s function.
According to Diary Crest, the new design does not force the material as far into each of the bottle’s corners. In reducing the distance to the corners of the bottle there is a considerable reduction in the weight of material required, it said.
Another element of the design is the positioning of the handle at a corner edge of the bottle.
Stored in the fridge, the handle can therefore be positioned facing outwards. The firm said this makes it easier for consumer use.
Reeves said the savings made from the new design would help the firm to invest more in marketing and also other innovation projects such as the new milk packaging.
Initial trial
The initial trial for the new packaging involved 30,000 bottles which carried stickers with a careline information number for customers dissatisfied by the new design.
The firm said no complaints were received.
Dairy Crest said a larger scale trial is now underway, where the new bottles will be introduced to 1.2 million British homes that receive deliveries of milk from the company.
The firm will also supply nearly one million bottles of the new design to one of its major retail customers, the name of which was not revealed by the company.
The new bottle will contribute to the targets the firm has set itself as part of its Milk Environmental Road Map.
“We are proud to be taking a leading position in the industry towards minimising the impact on the environment,” said Toby Brinsmead, managing director of Dairy Crest’s Liquid milk business.