Paboco and Blue Ocean Closures launch ‘world’s first’ market-ready paper bottle and cap

Paboco and Blue Ocean Closures have collaborated to develop the "industry's first" market-ready paper bottle and fiber cap combination, which is expected to be available in early 2025.

Paboco has launched a product line that includes a paper bottle and fiber cap combination in partnership with Blue Ocean Closures, which has released a standard cap for solids and pills that is said to be immediately market-ready.

The total weight of the entire package, including the cap, is apparently less than 16 grams, with the HDPE barrier weighing less than 2 grams. Paboco says the bottle's thin barrier means the package can be recycled as paper packaging, a development that is part of its goal to launch a paper bottle at scale by the end of 2025 and develop future bio-based solutions. The paper bottle and cap are available to order from selected partners and will be on display at this year's CPHI, which takes place in Milan, Italy, on October 8, and Scanpack, which takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden, from October 22 to 25.

Michael Michelsen, Commercial Director at Paboco, commented: "For us at Paboco, this is an immediate game changer for the industry. Here, we are changing the material choice in the packaging industry and focusing on lightweight packaging. We have already started production and expect the bottles to reach consumers by early 2025."

Ola Tönnberg, COO at Blue Ocean Closures, said: "We see fiber closures as a new standard category for a range of different bottle materials. To expand the possibilities of reducing plastic, we are very happy to launch it on fiber bottles through our partnership with Paboco."

Paboco started full-scale production of fiber bottles at its production site in Denmark in February this year, with the goal of producing more than 20 million bottles by the end of 2025. According to the company, 85% of the solution is paper, with the remaining 15% consisting of HDPE barrier, however, the exact percentage depends on the bottle shape and intended application.

In April, Blue Ocean Closures commercially launched its fiber screw cap in partnership with Swedish nutritional supplement supplier Great Earth. The two companies hope that the solution can be recycled in the waste paper stream, providing a viable alternative to existing plastic screw caps.