Tom Fiennes, Commercial Sustainability Director at Britvic, comments: “At Britvic, we’ve announced our intention that all bottles produced and sold by us in GB will be made from 100% rPET by the end of 2022. We have already made huge progress towards this goal, but are pleased to confirm the next step in achieving our target, making the change across leading brands and in time for Recycle Week.”
Additionally, to gather insight around consumers changing habits and brand preferences based on sustainability credentials, Britvic has also commissioned independent research. It reveals that the majority of Brits (80%) think it is important that manufacturers and brands use recycled plastic (2), with over half (58%) stating they are more likely to choose a soft drink brand that communicates its use of 100% rPET on-pack, than those that don’t2.
Fiennes continues: “The research we’ve commissioned gives us further insight into consumer habits and how these are impacted by sustainable efforts on behalf of manufacturers, retailers and foodservice outlets. It also reveals that 60% of Brits will return to a specific store if they stock products that use recycled plastic (2). This goes to show how important it is for retailers, and operators, to offer a range of sustainable products and that this can affect shopper loyalty.
“To further support our trade customers, we’re not only proud to be delivering action, but also helping them to generate sales at point of purchase through the on-pack communications on our move to 100% rPET, and POS materials. We have also invested in a fully integrated single serve campaign, which will lead with Pepsi MAX - appearing on social, TV and OOH.”
Lipton Ice Tea was the first to make the change, with 100% rPET 500ml bottles on shelves this summer. They are the first bottles to use Esterpet packaging following Britvic’s £5m investment support in Esterform’s rPET manufacturing facility in 2019. Each bottle will state its 100% recycled plastic credential clearly on pack, helping consumers make informed decisions on their purchases.
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(1) All featured GB Pepsi and Britvic single serve plastic bottles (500ml and 600ml), excluding caps/labels, are made from 100% recycled plastic. Larger bottles (over 1L) planned to change to 100% recycled plastic by the end of 2022
(2) OnePoll research, 2,000 UK adults, Recycling Lifetime Survey, commissioned by Britvic, August 2021
