GSK Consumer Healthcare explores paper bottles as Pulpex consortium's newest member

25 Mar 2021 --- Paper bottles are a fast-growing innovation area, highlighted by GSK Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) joining Pulpex’s paper bottle consortium as its newest member. 

GSKCH is exploring paper bottling for its wellness and oral health brands, including Centrum, Sensodyne and parodontax.

“The decision was based on the need to ensure the quality, safety and efficacy of our products,” Sarah McDonald, GSKCH vice president of sustainability tells PackagingInsights.

Furthermore, consortium members Diageo, Unilever and PepsiCo are each developing Pulpex packaging for specific brands. 

Pulpex was established by venture management firm Pilot Lite and spirits producer Diageo. “Due to confidentiality, we are unable to name any other partner consortium members at this point,” Sandy Westwater, Pilot Lite director also shares with PackagingInsights. 

Pulpex bottles have a 30% lower carbon footprint than PET. “However, we are in direct contact with several international organizations who look set to announce their involvement with Pulpex over the coming months.”

Innova Market Insights identified “Fiber-Based Frenzy” as its third top packaging trend for 2021. Innovation in plastic-replacement fiber-based solutions is booming as brands explore plastic waste escape routes and new connections with the enlarging eco-conscious consumer base. 

Paper bottle pioneers
The customizable Pulpex technology allows partner companies to produce different shapes and sizes of single-mold bottles to fit the needs of their brands.

The company’s scalable paper bottle is fully PET-free. Made from environmentally sustainably sourced pulp, the food-safe Pulpex bottle reportedly has a 30 percent lower carbon footprint than PET. 

“Aside from having a lower carbon footprint and being renewable, the key advantage of paper bottles is where there is not an effective recycling infrastructure in place. Pulpex bottles degrade readily in the environment and will not persist for hundreds of years like other packaging materials,” says Westwater.

In the budding paper bottle space, Coca-Cola recently brought Paboco’s paper bottle prototype to the “critical testing phase” in Hungary. 

The prototype consists of a paper shell with an rPET closure and liner. Ultimately, the goal is to create a paper bottle without a plastic liner, fully recyclable as paper. 

Meanwhile, Absolut Vodka is transitioning from glass to paper bottles in the UK and Sweden.

GSKCH is exploring Pulpex bottles’ design for its Centrum, Sensodyne and parodontax brands.“As brands move away from glass, metal or plastic, there are advantages and compromises in moving to a more sustainable future. Our bottles will fulfill the shelf life needs of the products they hold and meet consumer expectations,” says Westwater.

Leading the way?
Last year, GSKCH committed to ambitious targets for all its consumer product packaging to be recyclable or reusable, including eliminating all problematic and unnecessary plastics, where quality and safety permits, by 2025.

McDonald comments: “We hope that by commercializing this technology for our industry, others will be able to follow.”

GSKCH provides “the type of brand leadership needed to minimize the environmental footprint of packaging,” adds Mike Anstey, co-founder and CEO of Pilot Lite.

“You’ll hear from the consortium partners as they progress their plans with the Pulpex technology platform,” concludes Westwater.

Pulpex bottles will launch in early 2021 in brands sold by its consortium partners.

By Anni Schleicher