By Liz Wells in Soft Drinks 22nd September 2020

Ribena is trialling paper straws for its juice drinks cartons.

The brand is testing the U-bend paper straw by British manufacturer Transcend Packaging, which is fully-recyclable and biodegradable. Ribena will be the first UK juice drinks brand to introduce the straws to its drinks cartons.

Lorenzo Angelucci, chief executive at Transcend Packaging, said: “Anyone who has ever had a carton drink will instantly recognise the bendable plastic straws on the side of juice boxes found in supermarkets, cafes and packed lunch boxes across the country. The problem is these straws are used just once but then the plastic remains, as the straws are not often recycled.

“Because these straws need to be bendable and sharp enough to pierce the seal on the drink, it has traditionally been thought to be very difficult to create them from paper. Our new U-bend straw represents a significant design advancement and we are deploying it into the market at scale to provide drinks brands with a more sustainable option for their products.”

Jo Padwick, business transformation manager at Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I, added: “Developing a bendable, durable paper straw, hasn’t been easy but recycling it should be. We’ve conducted hours of consumer testing to make sure our new paper straws can puncture the carton, that they don’t become soggy, and that Ribena lovers enjoy the feel of sipping from them. Now that they’re out in market we can gather even more feedback before rolling the straws out more widely.”

The straws, which are currently being trialled in Tesco, are made from sustainably sourced paper and can be recycled in their entirety alongside any other paper product. The move to the paper will prevent up to 16 tonnes of plastic waste per year.

Tagged with: convenience stores packaging paper straws ribena soft drinks sustainability

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