Volvic is claiming a UK first for a PET bottle made from 20% sugar-cane waste that will hit shelves soon. Volvic brand-owner Danone joins the likes of Coca-Cola & Procter & Gamble in looking at non-oil-based plastics for packaging & described the "Greener Bottle" as a "real breakthrough." The 50cl bottle is said to have a 38% lower carbon footprint than the standard version & uses 25% recycled PET. Volvic also reduced the weight from 17g to 15g. Stéphane Cousté of Evian Volvic Worldwide's nature committee, said: "This is just the first step to integrating renewable materials into our bottles & is a key milestone on our journey to reduce the global carbon footprint of Volvic by 40% from 2008 to 2012." The BioPET material is made from combining PET with fermented & dehydrated sugar-cane waste, a natural & renewable waste product from the reduction of sugar from sugar cane. Indian firm India Glycols is producing BioPET from sugar cane molasses. The material is transported to Volvic's plant in France where it is turned into bottles. Volvic said that sourcing from India did not increase the overall carbon footprint of the bottle.
