World’s First PET Beverage Bottle Featuring Caps Made with 30% Plant-based Materials

Suntory Beverage & Food Limited (SBF) will introduce the world’s first^*１ PET beverage bottle caps using 30% plant-based products in Japan.

This spring, our Kyushu Kumamoto Plant (Kamimashiki District, Kumamoto) will begin using the caps on the approximately 26 million bottles of Mineral Water Suntory Aso Tennensui (550ml) produced annually and we plan to gradually incorporate the bottle caps into other Mineral Water Suntory Tennensui brands. Compared to existing PET bottle caps, this change will cut our petroleum-based material usage volume by approximately 30%^*２ and enable CO₂ emissions reductions of 21%.

SBF already has been using PET bottles made using 30% plant-based materials in our Suntory Tennensui (550ml) as part of our environmental load reduction initiative. This latest effort will enable us to provide a total environmentally conscience bottle, cap, and label package for Suntory Tennensui.

Rooted in our corporate philosophy of Harmony with People and Nature, the Suntory Group not only provides the highest quality products and services, but we also conduct various environmental impact reduction activities aimed at ensuring future generations are able to inherit a sustainable earth environment. Our initiatives related to PET bottle containers are based on Suntory’s unique 2R+B strategy.

●About the 2R+B strategy
Reduce/Recycle + Bio is a an approach that promotes reductions in volumes of resin used and the effective use of resources through material recycling as well as the aggressive use of renewable alternatives to petroleum-based raw materials. The Reduce aspect of this approach is applied not only to bottles, but also to labels and caps in order to promote volume reduction. The Recycle aspect involves creating a mechanical bottle-to-bottle recycling system, the first of its kind in Japan. The Bio aspect has already been implemented through the use of 30% plant-based materials for Suntory Tennensui (550ml).

The Suntory Group will continue with the aggressive development of products that meet customer needs and address environmental measures related to our containers.

*1: January 2016, SBF research

*2: Per each Suntory Tennensui (550ml) PET bottle cap.

▽SBF website (environment website/Japanese only)
https://www.suntory.co.jp/softdrink/eco/