Müller and Waitrose to scrap coloured milk carton caps in sustainability push

Blue, red and green milk caps could soon be a thing of the past for Müller, who will be partnering with Waitrose to replace their coloured caps with clear ones.

Coloured milk caps - unlike fully recyclable plastic milk bottles - cannot currently be recycled back into food grade packaging.

Research conducted by Müller has shown that consumers support the change, if it further improves the availability of food grade recycled plastic material.

Liam McNamara, commercial director at Müller Milk & Ingredients said: “Everyone is thinking more about what they buy, the nutritional benefits, the value it represents and the packaging used.

“We want to be the partner of choice for our customers, we recognise the commitments they are making in this area, and following a successful trial period, then this is another step we can offer.

“As the first dairy company in the UK to trial clear caps on fresh milk, we are working hard to innovate and lead in issues that are not only important for customers, but for consumers too.

“In an industry that needs access to more rHDPE [a kind of plastic made from recycled material], we are really excited to collaborate with Waitrose across all of their shops and trial this additional solution.

"Our fresh milk bottles already contain up to 40 per cent recycled material, but with access to more, we can partner with our customers to increase this further.

“But we will not stop there, we are also looking at ways to add recycled content into our clear-caps.”

Muller's research suggested that just over half of all shoppers look for the colour of milk caps when selecting their milk in store.

But, eight out of ten shoppers said, given the choice, that they would choose a bottle of milk which used a clear milk cap that could be recycled, over a coloured one which could not.

Karen Graley, Packaging Innovation lead at Waitrose, said: “As food businesses, we need to do more to protect our planet from unnecessary plastic waste so we’re delighted to be involved in this trial.

“We have a proud heritage of being first to trial step-change innovations in this space – from rolling out the UK’s first refillables in-store to removing single use plastic toys in children’s magazines.

"And we are proud to be working alongside Müller to show that leadership again.”