Lucozade Ribena Suntory Puts Recycling at the Front of Bottle Redesign

Lucozade Ribena Suntory announced an ambitious redesign programme for its best-selling 500ml Ribena bottle. This is the company’s latest move to ensure its packaging is fully recyclable within the UK’s current recycling infrastructure.

The redesign is an exciting opportunity for Lucozade Ribena Suntory to enhance Ribena’s brand equity in consumers’ minds as a forward-looking brand. Ten years ago, Ribena became the first UK soft drink brand to use bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET), preventing 40,000 tonnes of additional plastic from being produced. In January 2019, Ribena’s best-selling bottle was light-weighted, removing a further 325 tonnes of plastic from production annually.

Seymourpowell has been appointed to lead the redesign, following an in-depth agency pitch process which began in the summer of 2018.

Lucozade Ribena Suntory recognises how packaging plays an integral role in communicating with consumers. It sees the redesign of its bottles as a significant opportunity to not only mitigate its impact on the environment, but also to modernise and maintain long-term relevance with consumers. The company is building on the success of Lucozade Sport, which redesigned its bottle in 2017, an evolution which drove growth for the brand to levels which had not been seen before.  

This redesign is an opportunity to broaden the consumer perception of packaging, encouraging people to consider the full life of a bottle when purchasing Ribena, a brand which is passionate about its role in the circular economy. 

Speaking about the redesign, Charlotte Flook, Head of Ribena at Lucozade Ribena Suntory said, “We are really excited about what the future holds for Ribena, which will be available with a new bottle and label from 2020. We wanted to find a design partner who would work closely with us to really celebrate Ribena’s brand personality and maintain in-store impact. Seymourpowell impressed us with its ability to get to the heart of the brief and has inspired us with its ideas which will help grow the brand while pushing the boundaries of our sustainability credentials.”

A key element of the redesign will be a reduction of the full printed sleeves that cover some of the manufacturer’s bottles. This packaging was a revolution in the 1980s when soft drinks packaging moved away from glass bottles. The label protected soft drinks from UV and gave the brand prominence.

Like the latest launches from the Gloucestershire-based manufacturer, Lucozade Sport Fitwater and Ribena Frusion, the new Ribena bottle will be designed with bottle-to-bottle recycling in mind. The labels of both Lucozade Sport Fitwater and Ribena Frusion bottles are sufficiently transparent, meaning they can be fully recycled within the current UK recycling infrastructure. Ribena Frusion is also manufactured in 100% recycled plastic (rPET) 420ml bottles, ensuring no new plastic needs to be produced.

Lucozade Ribena Suntory has already pledged to ensure 100% of its plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 as a founding signatory of the WRAP Plastics Pact. The 500ml Ribena bottle will be redesigned first, building on the brand’s rich history of environmentally-friendly initiatives.

Adrian Caroen, Seymourpowell Executive Creative Director said: “Seymourpowell is delighted to have been chosen to partner with Lucozade Ribena Suntory for this ambitious and important re-design. We believe that great design and innovation can change things for the better and play a key role in helping LRS meet its sustainability goals.”

Source: Lucozade Ribena Suntory

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