The company says the move will mean 300 tonnes of plastic reduction every year.
The dairy company has worked with PACCOR for the last 18 months to design, trial and rollout the new compression mould caps.
Having successfully completed various trials across Müller’s network of dairies throughout 2018, all of Müller’s branded and private label fresh milk products will include the new lighter cap, which weighs just 1.3g, from February 2019.
As Müller continues to drive down its plastic use, the dairy company has already completed various acquisitions throughout the UK that allows the business to manufacture its own fresh milk bottles in the UK.
2020 targets
Müller’s HDPE fresh milk bottles, used for all branded and private label fresh milk products, are already 100% recyclable and the business is aiming to increase the use of recycled plastic in its bottles to a target of 50% by 2020. Alongside working with suppliers like PACCOR, Müller is using the newly acquired assets to continue pursuing innovative packaging solutions, working in partnership with its customers.
The new caps form part of Müller’s overall plan to create a profitable, progressive and efficient fresh milk business in Britain, with new capabilities to make the next generation of fresh milk, cream and flavored milk products.
Patrick Müller, CEO of Müller Milk & Ingredients said, “We’re clear about the need to reduce our use of plastic, and we have removed 10,000 tonnes of plastic from our milk bottles since 2016. This is great progress, but we can, and we will do more.
“Customers and consumers can be assured that Müller is working to lead in this and other important areas. We are convinced that the work we do with our packaging, operational excellence and with dairy farmers who supply us to protect against market volatility, are real points of difference.”
Müller UK & Ireland is wholly owned by Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller which employs 27,500 people throughout Europe. In the UK, Müller develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of branded and private label dairy products made with milk from more than 1,700 British farmers.