Two prominent beverage brands are taking substantial steps toward more sustainable packaging.
Groupe Danone has developed a no-label bottle for its Evian brand of drinking water. The 400ml PET bottle has the brand name and other verbiage molded into the side.
The idea is to make the bottle more recyclable, since labels are usually made from a different polymer than bottles and must therefore be removed before recycling. Removing them is labor-intensive, and the labels, once removed, usually have to be landfilled or burned.
The no-label Evian bottle rolled out in France in early July and is scheduled to arrive in the U.S. in September.
Meanwhile, Diageo plans to test-market a bottle for its Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch whisky made entirely of paper.
The bottle, which will be tested next year, is made from wood pulp pressed into molds and cured by microwaves. It has no plastic or other lining, making it fully recyclable.
Diageo is co-launching a firm called Pulpex to create the bottle. Pulpex will also create packaging for Unilever and PepsiCo, according to BBC News.
