Future of Packaging: Paboco and the Paper Bottle

Improving the sustainability of packaging is very important to us at The Absolut Company. We have committed to reducing our carbon footprint by 50 percent by 2030, of which 30 percent is through packaging innovations.

The Absolut Company’s Future of Packaging program aims to minimize waste at every step by re-imagining, producing, and distributing our products in ways that preserve and optimize the use of our natural resources.

The Absolut Company’s Future of Packaging program aims to minimize waste at every step by re-imagining, producing, and distributing our products in ways that preserve and optimize the use of our natural resources. We focus on finding new and sustainable packaging solutions that have the potential to reduce our carbon footprint and ultimately achieve circularity.

One part of the program is the Paper Bottle project, aimed at producing bottles with a lower impact on the planet through the use of paper as the main material. The project started in 2019 when Paboco® – The Paper Bottle Company – brought us together with other progressive companies to pioneer the next phase of packaging liquids across multiple industries.

We’re allowing ourselves to truly think outside the box, both in terms of design and sustainability.

Niclas Appelquist, Director Future of Packaging at The Absolut Company on the innovation aspects associated with The Paper Bottle project.

Alongside The Coca-Cola Company, Carlsberg and L’Oréal Europe, we’re part of a ‘Pioneer Community’ that shares similar challenges in developing bio-based paper packaging, which is an unconventional material for containing liquid goods and beauty products.

In the initial stages of the project, we have developed a first-generation prototype of the paper bottle, that consists of biodegradable FSC-certified paper with a barrier of recycled plastic. 

In the initial stages of the project, we have developed a first-generation prototype of the paper bottle, that consists of biodegradable FSC-certified paper with a barrier of recycled plastic. The two materials can easily be separated from each other and recycled separately, where facilities are available. The first test batch of approximately 2000 bottles is scheduled for August 2020.