The soft drinks brand Lucozade has been in business for almost one hundred years in the UK. By June 2021, it was announced that Lucozade Sport bottles will be completely made from recycled plastic by the end of the year. Statista Research Department (2020) estimated that over three and a half million people drank Lucozade Energy in 2019, a variation of the soft drink has proven to be a popular choice for people in the UK. A swap from plastic bottles to recycled ones could save thousands of new plastic being produced, thus further adding to the plastic problem.
The Sustainable Swap from Plastic Bottles
Plastic bottles have for a long time been the culprit for mass pollution around the world. Over seven and a half billion plastic water bottles are used annually in Britain, around three every week per person, according to Water UK. Those figures only cover water bottles and not the rest of all drinks in plastic bottles. Businesses must be feeling the pressure to switch to more sustainable methods of selling products. The issue is staggering but what other manufacturing companies are doing to reduce their plastic intake?
Earlier this year, Coca-cola began testing switching from plastic to paper bottles. In November 2020, soft drink brand Ribena, which is also owned by the same company as Lucozade, already switched to recycled bottles. Owner of the beer, Carling, has swapped plastic packaging with cardboard. It seems that one after another, brands are aiming to lead and follow the way into a more sustainable future.
Despite the environmentally-friendly packaging made from paper having a high success rate of being recycled, some may say that implementing carbon-zero emissions and sustainability into the brand’s production itself is impressive. The Independent listed 15 eco-friendly alcohol and alcohol-free drinks that use sustainable practices or recycled produce that would have been otherwise wasted.
The Future of Refills
The giant supermarket chain Asda, is trialling its ‘sustainable store’ where several stations will feature liquids you can refill such as the soft-drink / squash Vimto. Drinks refill could be an insight into how drink brands can further support an even more sustainable method. Instead of switching to recycled packaging, eliminating the packaging in the first place seems like it will become more and more popular.
The Japanese company that owns Lucozade, Suntory, aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% over the next decade and reach zero emissions by the next thirty years. The UK government has been advised to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. However, to achieve such a push consumers, businesses and local governments should all be working together to reduce pollution and waste production. Moving to a more sustainable future means supporting innovative brands and ways to keep global temperatures down and ensuring sustainable responsibility is held.
Collect and Recycle
At Collect and Recycle, we aim to properly dispose and recycle materials correctly to make sure that items are stored and reused where possible. Sustainability is one of our main focuses and helping individuals or organisations treat and manage waste is what we specialise in.