News & Events

Heinz to adopt Coca Cola’s sustainable PlantBottle® packaging

Heinz will now produce its ketchup bottles using PlantBottle® packaging, marking the biggest change to their iconic design since 1983.

Launched by Coca Cola in 2009, PlantBottle® packaging has a lower reliance on non-renewable resources compared with traditional PET plastic bottles, with nearly 30% of its material derived from plants.

 

Dr Richard Murphy, an Imperial academic in the Division of Biology, headed up an initial life cycle analysis of the product. His team were able to confirm that Coca Cola’s innovative packaging reduced CO2 impact by 12-19%.

 

In 2010 alone, the use of this breakthrough packaging eliminated the equivalent of almost 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or approximately 60,000 barrels of oil.

 

Both Heinz and Coca Cola hope that others will follow in the use of more sustainable materials, transforming how food is packaged around the world.

 

Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a tool used to assess the environmental impact of a product or process.

Share post:

Latest news, insights and events

Tackling London’s air pollution will increase life expectancy of children

Tackling London’s air pollution will increase life expectancy of children

Report by researchers from Environmental Research Group predicts London air quality policies, and wider improvements in air quality, will increase average life expectancy of a child born in London in 2013 by six months. read more

Webinar: What will our recovery look like?

Webinar: What will our recovery look like?

23 July 2020 – 12:00 – 13:00 Hear Professor Jonathan Haskel, renowned British economist & Bank of England Monetary Policy committee Member, talk through the economic modelling of the initial recession and the lessons for the recovery. read more

Imperial’s new COVID-19 testing lab goes live

Imperial’s new COVID-19 testing lab goes live

Imperial’s contribution to the Testing Alliance launched. Includes the UKAS accredited Molecular Diagnostic Unit (MDU) and existing high-throughput robotic platform for RNA extraction. read more