Friday 11 March 2022

No more coloured milk caps?

When you go shopping for your milk you might do so by the colour to determine if you want full-fat or semi-skimmed – but does this have more of an impact on the environment than you’d think?

Waitrose has taken the decision to remove coloured caps from certain milk bottles and replace them with clear ones.

It has stated that although the milk bottles are entirely recyclable, coloured caps cannot be recycled back into food packaging and using clear ones would allow the material to be reused.

The decision would see a tighter ‘closed-loop’ system come into place, allowing the material to stay in circulation and stop the need for ‘virgin’ plastics to be made.

Dairy brand Müller conducted research that found although more than half of shoppers use coloured caps to buy their milk, 80% would support a switch to clear caps if it meant they could be recycled.

Müller will now be trialling clear capped milk bottles in Waitrose stores throughout April that is claims are 100% recyclable and made from 40% recycled materials.

Karen Graley, Packaging Innovation at Waitrose, said: “As food businesses, we need to do more to protect our planet from unnecessary plastic waste, so we’re delighted to be involved in this trial.”

Müller’s commercial director added: “As the first dairy company in the UK to trial clear caps on fresh milk, we are working hard to innovate and lead in issues that are not only important for customers but for consumers too.

“We are also looking at ways to add recycled content into our clear caps.”