The paper chase in packaging has been on for a while and received a boost in recent months as single-use plastic packaging has gone out of environmental favor globally. Among the packages caught in the crosshairs of that ire is the ubiquitous PET beverage bottle. That negative attention has benefited interest and developments in alternative formats, particularly paper bottles.

The burgeoning paper bottle market is given an additional boost with Coca-Cola’s announcement that the brand is moving forward with testing a new prototype with consumers this summer. The development is part of a partnership between scientists at Coca‑Cola’s Brussels Research and Development laboratories and The Paper Bottle Company (Paboco), a Danish startup supported by ALPLA and BillerudKorsnäs in cooperation with Carlsberg, L’Oréal, and The Absolut Company.

The technology developed by Paboco is designed to create 100% recyclable bottles made of sustainably sourced wood with a bio-based material barrier suitable for liquid goods such as carbonated and still drinks, beauty products and more.

The trial of the paper bottle prototype is scheduled to take place in Hungary in the second quarter of 2021 whereby 2,000 250-ml bottles of AdeZ will be offered to consumers by one of Hungary’s fastest growing online grocery retailers, kifli.hu.

“The trial is a milestone for us in our quest to develop a paper bottle,” says Daniela Zahariea, director of technical supply chain & innovation for Coca‑Cola Europe.

The current prototype, however, consists of a paper shell with a recyclable plastic lining and cap, though the ultimate goal and objective of the project is to develop a bottle without the plastic liner that can be recycled as paper. Coca-Cola reports that it’s “excited about the potential for the technology and the opportunity to learn from this trial.”