Co-op puts its weight behind world's lightest whisky bottle
The Co-op is launching what is believed to be the world's lightest 70cl spirits bottle.
As well as minimising the amount of glass being used in packaging and ultimately the amount of glass that ends up in landfill, the new bottle, which weighs in at just 298 grams compared to 350 grams, is the first commercially available 70cl bottle to break the 300 gram weight barrier.
The bottle sets a new "best in class" standard for the sector and will initially be used for the Co-op's top-selling own-label Scotch whisky, which will start rolling off the production line later this month (w/c 23 April 2007), before being rolled out to stores in mid-May.
This will be followed by Co-op own-label gin and vodka. In total, some 400,000 70cl bottles will be switched over to the lighter bottles and glass savings made of 20 tonnes per annum. Work is already underway to realise similar reductions in the Co-op's one litre spirits bottles.
The news follows last month's announcement that The Co-operative Group plans to increase its range of power-saving lighting and domestic kitchen appliances and has set itself the ambitious target of reducing its overall energy consumption by 25% within the next five years, re-affirming the Group's position as the leading exponent of climate change initiatives.
The pioneering product was developed by Rockware Glass and later incorporated into the Container Lite Programme - a year-long industry-wide project funded by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) to promote a range of lightweight glass containers.
It is not uncommon to find 500g spirits bottles on the market and the spirits industry is one of the UK's biggest consumers of glass packaging, using more than half a million tonnes each year. With off-trade spirits sales continuing to rise, demand for glass packaging is stronger than ever, and WRAP expects this bottle to lead the way in lightweighting across this important industry sector.
WRAP estimates that every year over 1.5 million tonnes of glass still end up in landfill in the UK and that a similar 15% reduction in the weight of the 66 million bottles of spirits sold each year would save 4,000 tonnes of glass per annum.
Guy McCracken, Chief Executive, Food Retail at The Co-operative Group, commented: "We are delighted to be the first retailer to bring this innovative product to market. This is an important milestone, which marks a new phase in our drive to advance waste minimisation and packaging reduction. We have a series of initiatives underway and our customers can expect to see significant reductions in their packaging over the next five years."
WRAP project manager, Nicola Jenkin, said: "The new bottle is a real landmark in packaging design. A sub-300 gram spirits bottle has set a new 'best in class' standard for the sector, so the achievement is very welcome news.
"The new design proves that it is possible for packaging to be resource-efficient, without compromising performance or consumer appeal. We hope other retailers and brand owners will now follow the Co-op's lead."
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Notes to Editors:
WRAP's Retail Innovation team works in partnership with the packaging supply chain to be more efficient in their use of materials. For more information visit www.wrap.org.uk/retail
In Spring 2005, The Co-operative Group was the first retailer to run a successful minimisation programme with WRAP, when it removed the outer carton from Co-op Tomato Purée, saving a considerable amount of board.
In February this year, the Group placed its first order for one million Fairtrade cotton Bags for Life - the UK's first supermarket Fairtrade cotton Bag for Life. Made from unbleached, biodegradable cotton, the Co-op expects this will eventually replace the 3.5 million plastic Bags for Life it currently sells each year. As well as being less harmful to the environment, the Fairtrade cotton bags guarantee a fair price and a better deal for disadvantaged Indian cotton growers.
In 2002, the Co-op introduced Britain's first 100% degradable plastic carrier bags, which, although as strong as conventional plastic carrier bags, start to degrade after around 18 months and, in the right conditions, totally degrade after three years. Conventional plastic packaging takes over 100 years to degrade.
The Co-operative Group has a long track record in leading the way on climate change and the Group recently committed to reducing its operational energy consumption by some 20% by 2010 and 25% by 2012.
The Group led the switch to green electricity back in 1998 and its green credentials were further underlined last year when it became the first major retailer in the UK to switch all its mainland outlets to green electricity. Energy for all the Group's mainland sites, from more than 3,000 retail shops to its headquarters complex in Manchester, is now sourced from renewable energy, making it one of the largest purchasers of green electricity in Europe. This delivers annual savings of 300,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
2006 also saw the official switch on of the Coldham Wind farm in Cambridgeshire, which is a joint venture between the Group and ScottishPower. It has been built on agricultural land, owned and farmed by the Group and it is the first wind farm built by ScottishPower south of the border. In 2007, the Group will be progressing a further, larger scheme in Goole, and more broadly aims to generate 15 per cent of its total electricity requirement onsite, on land holdings or at buildings, by 2012.
The Group's financial services arm, CFS, recently completed the work to cover the 400 ft service tower of the landmark CIS building in the centre of Manchester with 7,000 photovoltaic panels. The solar panels will create 180,000 units of renewable electricity each year - enough energy to make nine million cups of tea.
CFS also created an inner city wind farm by erecting 19 micro-wind turbines on the roof of the 13-storey CIS building, in Portland Street, on the other side of Manchester city centre. The scheme is the largest-ever commercial application of micro-wind turbines in the UK and the wind turbines when fully operational will produce 44,000 units of renewable energy each year.
The Group is making available £1.5 million to support a Renewables for Schools programme (with an assumption that our monies will enable at least 100 schools to draw down Low Carbon Buildings Programme monies and install 4kWp PV systems).
The Group is supportive of the Carbon Trust Carbon Reduction Label initiative and is looking to join and test the emerging methodology with its own products.