With the aim that, by 2025, 100% of Danone's packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable, the company has redesigned the iconic Danacol brand bottle following the principles of Design to Recycle whose objective is to ensure that it is easily recyclable. To do this, it has eliminated its PET plastic label, replacing it with a embossed in the same bottle, thus improving its recyclability while reducing 0,72g of plastic per unit. This means, since its launch in November 2021, the annual savings of 130.000 kg of plastic. For this reason, Ainia, the prestigious European technology center, has awarded the company with the “Rigid packaging solutions” award which is awarded to the development of barrier and sustainability packaging solutions in the food industry.
"At Danone we are committed to healthy food produced in a sustainable way for a better present and future, also through our packaging," he explains. Carla Leon, Research&Innovation Packaging Engineer at Danone. “There is still a lot to do, but the change towards a more sustainable future is possible thanks to the valuable cooperation of our network of suppliers and technology centers. We are working to ensure that all the packaging we put on the market does not become waste and can have a second life”, he concludes.
To maintain product quality, it has been given opacity and color to the bottle to prevent the effect of light. Instead of the label, it has opted to add both the logo and the brand's slogan in relief, thus achieving a more premium design. In addition, a color code has been designed to facilitate the differentiation of flavor through the lid of the container.
La new bottle, which will be launched in the rest of European countries in 2022, has been co-created between the R&D team of Danone Iberia and Graham Packaging, a leading manufacturer of plastic containers. The design process, which began in April 2020, has lasted 19 months and, to achieve this, the company has adapted two production lines at its factory in Aldaya, Valencia, from which it will also be distributed to the rest of the countries.
