6 Apr. 2024: Cullen Packaging has been nominated for the Earthshot Prize for its Fibre Bottle. The Earthshot Prize is a global environmental award that is rewarded to five winners each year for their contributions towards environmentalism.
Cullen’s Fibre Bottle was nominated in the Waste-Free World category.
The Fibre Bottle is a patented paper bottle, made from the corrugate waste from Cullen’s corrugated facility via a bespoke closed-loop recycling system and is fully recyclable and compostable.
Cullen said the bottle is a scalable, sustainable alternative to single-use plastic bottles or plastic pouches containing dry goods.
The Glasgow-based company is currently manufacturing over 80 million paper bottles annually.
Made from moulded fibre, Cullen said this has a 62% lower CO2 emission rate compared to polystyrene and a 15% lower rate than PET, the Fibre Bottle provides a recyclable packaging solution for homecare products, vitamins, dried foods and healthcare products, the majority of which currently use single use plastic packaging.
David MacDonald, chief executive, Cullen, said: “We’re honoured to be recognised by the Earthshot prize as one of the top game-changing innovations that will help us repair the planet.
“We all know the damage single use plastic can cause, however at Cullen we also understand businesses need a scalable, and truly recyclable alternative to replace it, that can be implemented quickly and efficiently – that’s what we provide. We work in collaboration to create truly sustainable alternatives to single use plastic in an effort to help regenerate the planet. In the last two years we’ve produced over 1 billion plastic free products for just about every sector.”