Müller has secured a long-term supply agreement with waste management firm Biffa, which will provide Müller with additional access to recycled plastics for its fresh milk bottles.
According to Müller, demand for food-grade recycled High-Density Polyethylene (rHDPE) is currently outstripping supply, and this agreement will see Biffa continue to supply the recycled material that is used to make the dairy company’s fresh milk bottles.
Müller has made substantial investments to enable the production of its own fresh milk packaging, and its bottles currently contain around 40% recycled materials.
The dairy company has made a number of sustainability commitments in the recent past, pledging to remove all plastic straws from its products by the end of 2020, and last January, the company introduced a new recyclable milk cap in the UK which uses 13% less plastic than previous caps.
The company estimates that its sustainability efforts in 2019 managed to remove around 840 tonnes of plastic per annum from its plastic packaging.
Brendan Power, commercial director at Müller Milk & Ingredients said: “We are more positive about the future because we’re turning our fresh milk business into a lean, agile and customer-centric operation.
“Our customers have made commitments to use an average of 30% recycled content in their plastic packaging, and consumer demand for innovative solutions continues to grow. We’re listening and aligning to their needs.
“Most of our packaging is made on-site, not trucked in from elsewhere. So with this long term supply agreement, and our unique capability to pursue further inhouse innovation, we are able to offer our customers a leading plastics proposition.”
Chris Hanlon, commercial manager at Biffa Polymers added: “We are delighted to help Müller improve its usage of high-quality food-grade recycled plastic.
“We are a trusted partner for dairy manufacturers and are committed to supporting them achieve their sustainability targets with innovative, industry-leading technologies.”
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