Absolut Vodka unveils industry-first paper-based cap and bottle
Absolut Vodka has brought together two of its breakthrough innovations: placing a paper-based cap on the Absolut Paper bottle. Bringing it one step closer to its vision of a fully bio-based bottle.
Absolut has a history of working towards long-term environmental goals and pushing boundaries with its packaging. In 2023, it successfully trialled single-mould paper-based bottles at select Tesco stores in the UK. And having developed a paper-based cap, it made an industry-first by trialling a paper-based cap and bottle duo at a bartender event in May 2025.
“The vision for Absolut Vodka’s paper-based bottle has always been, and is, to create a 100 per cent bio-based packaging solution. There wasn’t a viable cap on the market that could meet our environmental ambitions, so we teamed up with Blue Ocean Closures to create one,” says Eric Näf, Head of Packaging Development at Absolut.
The cap – a collaboration with Blue Ocean Closures (BOC), a Swedish start-up working to reduce plastics through fibre-based packaging innovation – is made of more than 95 per cent FSC* certified fibres, with a thin plastic top-seal barrier. The caps provide the same secure seal and ease of use as the existing caps – and they are recyclable as paper in places where recycling systems can separate the paper fibre from plastic components.
Having a cap made primarily from renewable materials opens the potential for reductions in carbon footprint compared to conventional materials. It also opens the possibility for much more. “Our long-term ambition is to replace the plastic with a biobased material, with the entire cap made of renewable materials,” adds Eric.
There wasn’t a cap on the market that met our environmental ambitions, so we teamed up with Blue Ocean Closures to create one.
Eric Näf, Head of Packaging Development
The paper-based cap is part of Pernod Ricard’s Future of Packaging initiative, which seeks to empower consumers and brands to commit to more conscious choices around the packaging of their spirits.
“We want to empower our consumers to make more conscious choices by offering the right packaging for the right occasion,” says Louise Werner, Future of Packaging Director. “A glass bottle is still the perfect fit if you want to create a cocktail at home. The paper-based bottle, on the other hand, can really shine in a more social setting like a party, where the bottle is likely to be shared.”
*Forest Stewardship Council, fsc.org
