New, refillable milk bottles offer lightweight alternative to glass and support up to 16 uses

Global sustainable packaging leader, Berry Global Group, Inc., partnered with Abel & Cole, a pioneer in sustainable food delivery, to supply bottles for its Club Zero Refillable Milk delivery service. The new polypropylene (PP) bottles can be refilled up to 16 times before being recycled.

Made with widely recyclable PP, the new bottles produce fewer transport and processing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to heavier glass bottles,* challenging the conventional use of glass bottles for home milk delivery.

Research conducted by Abel & Cole suggests that reusing the Club Zero Refillable Milk bottles just four times reduces the carbon footprint of their single-use milk bottles by half compared to heavier glass bottles, which would take over 15 returns to reach similar emissions savings. At the same time, the concept saves 450,000 single-use plastic milk bottles from landfills or incineration per year, equivalent to 23 tonnes of plastic.

“When it comes to packaging materials, plastic is often seen as the enemy,” explained Hugo Lynch, Sustainability Lead at Abel & Cole. “But we challenged ourselves to ask if it was better to use glass, which is heavier and more energy-intensive to make, or to go against the grain.”

The bottle design is optimised to support Abel & Cole’s eight-stage cleaning process, which eliminates the drying stage, reducing the risk of bacterial contamination. Bottles undergo an eight-stage washing process when returned, ensuring thorough cleaning before being conveyed to the cleanroom for refilling.

To facilitate superior cleaning with minimal risk, the new bottles were designed without a handle, reducing ‘trap points’ where bacteria might gather and allowing for easy drainage. Bottles were optimised to suit Abel and Cole's existing factory equipment – for example, the bottle was reverse-engineered to fit the existing low density polyethylene (LDPE) cap used for Abel & Cole milk bottles. This helps reduce costs and eliminates the need for new equipment investments. Similarly, the bottle fits into existing single-use milk crates – making the delivery process a modern spin on the traditional milk round.

Berry conducted rigorous chemical tests to ensure PP provided the strength and durability to undergo high processing temperatures and prevent breakage that is common to glass.

Innovative, reusable packaging solutions

The bottle label contains extensive consumer communication to encourage returns, while the label itself also provides an ‘early warning’ system for each bottle’s end of life. This is because labelled bottles can be washed up to 16 times before the label shows signs of degradation, meaning that Abel & Cole can track bottle life and ‘retire’ each bottle when it is ready for recycling.

The first samples were 3D printed for migration testing in June 2023, and the first bottles shipped to customers in October. Since launch, the one litre Club Zero Refillable Milk bottle has seen a 20% uplift in sales week-on-week. The current return rate is 64%, with Abel & Cole targeting a minimum of 75%.

“We are committed to delivering innovative, reusable packaging solutions that help our customers make transformative leaps toward their sustainability goals,” said Sue Springett, Senior Marketing Manager for Berry Agile Solutions. “Through circular partnerships like these, we unpack complexities and help our customers understand what’s possible for the plastic substrate.”

*Based on research conducted by Abel & Cole