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Fresh cows' milk in a carton will have positive effects for consumers and business

Written by:

• The a2 Milk Company Limited

Posted On:

11th March 2019

A small dairy brand plans on making a big impact by switching from plastic bottles to paper-based cartons. The new cartons use 80% less plastic than previous plastic milk bottle.

There is no escaping the growing demand in the UK for solutions to our plastic packaging problem. A poll earlier in the year highlighted the level of consumer concern in the UK about plastic - a quarter (25%) expressed ‘extreme concern’ about plastic and 21% said the industry should go even further and opt for entirely plastic-free packaging.

There’s mounting pressure on businesses to increase focus and commitment to reducing their environmental impact and further pressure on the government to develop legislation in order to speed up the process.

According to industry expert Richard Walker Iceland MD, one of the biggest issues to overcome is dairy packaging. For a highly established industry that has streamlined its production in such a manner that plastic bottles are built into the very heart of its technology, it’s clear to see that change will be both expensive and slow.

However, the tricky intricacies of the milk production line are of no concern to the consumer and their desires to reduce single use plastic on a personal level. In fact, research shows that 69% of UK milk drinkers would switch to buying their fresh milk in a carton if they knew it was more sustainable.

This growing pressure in the UK for less single use plastic, combined with the fact the dairy industry faces the biggest challenges in meeting the demand is what makes the move from plastic to carton by a2 Milk™ UK so significant.

“It is hugely impressive that a relatively small brand in the dairy industry should be the first to make the switch from plastic bottles to paper-based cartons,” said Rosie Teasdale from the Forest Stewardship Council UK. “If all milk in plastic bottles used in the UK were changed to cartons we could significantly cut plastic use.”

The new 1 litre pack will be 100% recyclable, using FSC^® (Forest Stewardship Council^®) certified pulp and is ISCC (International Sustainability & Carton Certification) certified ((FSC licence code: FSC^®N002865).

The introduction of a fresh cows’ milk in a carton will have positive effects that reach much further than individual consumers. It empowers responsible businesses to make more environmentally friendly purchase decisions in order to reduce their plastic waste and meet their sustainability ambitions. This is an opportunity that has already been seized just four months after the launch of the a2 Milk™ carton, further demonstrating the appetite for solutions to the UK’s plastic packaging problem.

Importantly, it’s not just the packaging that’s different about a2 Milk™, in fact, The a2 Milk™ Company have always been pioneers with a determination to shake up the category and break the mould in milk itself. They are the only company in the world to hand select cows that naturally produce milk containing only the A2 beta casein protein type and none of the A1 protein type present in regular milk. It is available from all major supermarkets in the UK, it is positioned within the growing specialty milks category and is one of the few dairy milks in this category, bringing people back to this vitally important natural food source.