Dairy processor Muller has rolled out a new recyclable milk cap which uses 13% less plastic material in a bid to bolster its environmental credentials.
It will allow the business to remove 300 tonnes of plastic every year, the equivalent weight of 231 million ‘stealth’ milk caps.
The dairy company has worked with packaging company PACCOR for the last 18 months to trial the new compression mould caps.
Having completed various trials, all of Muller’s fresh milk products will include the new lighter cap, which weighs just 1.3g, from February 2019.
Muller manufactures its own fresh milk bottles in the UK following numerous acquisitions.
Its HDPE milk bottles are 100% recyclable and the business is aiming to increase the use of recycled plastic in its bottles to a target of 50% by 2020.
Patrick Muller, CEO of Muller Milk & Ingredients said: “We’re clear about the need to reduce our use of plastic, and we have removed 10,000 tonnes of plastic from our milk bottles since 2016.”
The wider farming industry has also joined in on efforts to cut down on plastic use.
The NFU has announced it is using waste potatoes for its monthly magazine wrap in a step to become more environmentally-friendly
Cotteswold Dairy, based in Gloucestershire, is joining in the effort to crack down on plastic waste in its dairies, by using glass bottles for its milk.
The bottles can be rinsed and reused on an average of 50 trips. The dairy said milk stored in glass bottles “tastes better”, too.
And a Scottish dairy farmer is trying to raise £10,000 to stop the use of single-use plastics on his farm.
