Innocent upped its green credentials this week by launching 100 per cent recycled PET plastic bottles for its smoothie range.
Four recipes are now on shelf in the new 100 per cent recycled packaging.
This means that no virgin material will be used in the making of its bottles and the product will be fully recyclable and use 20 per cent less plastic than the original packaing design.
The move will see a 55 per cent reduction in the overall carbon footprint of the drinks. Innocent was one of the first three companies to sign up to the Carbon Trust scheme earlier this year, to demonstrate its commitment to measuring and lowering its carbon footprint.
Jessica Sansom, sustainability manager at Innocent, said: “We’ve always been a business that has taken our environmental impact seriously, and this move to 100 per cent recycled content in our bottles is extremely exciting.
“It means that next year, Innocent will be saving more than one thousand tonnes of C02, which is great news for the planet.”
Mike Childs, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth, said: “This food and drink industry first demonstrates that carbon saving is possible if businesses choose to work at it. Innocent is clearly leading the field in reducing their carbon footprint, and their pioneering work on developing and using a 100 per cent recycled bottle will hopefully be followed by others.”
The smoothie maker initially moved to 25 per cent recycled PET plastic bottles in 2000, before upping it to 50 per cent in 2005.
The full range will be sold in 100 per cent recycled PET from January 2008.