Arla Foods UK has reached a “major milestone” towards achieving 100% recyclable packaging and zero virgin plastics across its branded product range by 2030.
In a move to mark Recycle Week between 14-20 October, the dairy co-op announced a “milk category first” after switching Arla Cravendale and Arla BOB one-litre bottles produced at its Stourton site to post-consumer recycled PET (rPET).
The new bottles removed almost 900 tonnes of virgin fossil plastics from Arla’s supply chain, it said.
The business has also revamped its Lactofree cheddar packaging, which now uses a fully recyclable mono-material that will offer a packaging solution in accordance with recycling labelling scheme OPRL’s guidelines.
Additionally, the revamp – four years in the making – meant the product was the first UK cheese block to use mono-packaging material on a high-speed, multi-jawed packing machine, Arla said.
The two announcements represented a “major step” towards hitting its 2030 target, said Arla’s head of milk, organic and yoghurt Catriona Mantle.
“This is a massive achievement and the culmination of years of scoping and planning with our partners at Logoplaste and Wipak UK,” she added.
“These are the latest in a series of changes made by Arla on packaging, with the most recent announcement being the introduction of clear caps across our private-label milk,” she said.
“We are also launching a carton line for fresh milk from our Stourton site in Leeds. But we’re not stopping there, as we will be introducing more changes across our branded portfolio, as we continue to move towards zero virgin fossil plastics.”
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