Paper Bottles Poised for UK Market as Startup Opens Glasgow Factory

A British business, partly funded by the government, is preparing to launch paper bottles in the United Kingdom, aiming to reduce plastic waste in the drinks industry. Pulpex, established in 2020 by spirits giant Diageo and venture firm Pilot Lite, is set to open its first commercial-scale factory near Glasgow this month.

Unlike paper straws, which can quickly degrade, Pulpex claims its bottles are constructed from a material capable of holding liquid for extended periods. The initial product offerings will include mineral water from Purely Scottish and laundry detergent from the brand Smol, both slated for sale this autumn. A third production line is expected to follow, with the factory projected to reach a maximum capacity of 40 million bottles annually.

Pulpex raised £62 million (approximately $82 million) for the new facility, with £43.5 million ($57.5 million) provided by the government-owned National Wealth Fund and £10 million ($13.2 million) from the Scottish National Investment Bank. The company's innovation involves molding wood pulp into a single-piece container lined with a recyclable barrier made from a water-based emulsion. This barrier, comprising about six to seven percent of the bottle's total weight, does not contain common plastics like PET or HDPE. Pulpex suggests this design can hold liquids for months and, with potential barrier enhancements, could preserve products like wine for up to two years by controlling oxygen flow. The entire bottle is designed to be recyclable with standard paper and cardboard.

The path to market has seen previous challenges. A planned Johnnie Walker whisky bottle made of paper, announced in 2020, did not reach shelves by its early 2021 target. Similarly, a project for a paper ketchup bottle with Heinz concluded in 2022. As of 2024, Pulpex indicated its paper products were still in 'feasibility testing.' The forthcoming Smol detergent bottles will include a polypropylene dosing cap that must be removed for separate recycling, meaning they will not be entirely plastic-free.

Concerns persist regarding the environmental impact of alternative packaging. The UK charity Green Alliance previously cautioned that the shift away from plastics could inadvertently harm the environment if alternatives are adopted without full consideration of their impacts. For instance, producing paper bags can require significantly more energy than plastic bags. Furthermore, the terms 'compostable' and 'biodegradable' can be confusing, as materials labeled as such do not always break down as expected. Recent research also indicated that single-use paper cups, particularly those lined with biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA), can release millions of microplastic particles when exposed to hot liquids, in some cases more than cups lined with traditional polyethylene (PE).