A trial aimed at boosting the use of recycled PET (rPET) in the UK packaging industry has taken an exciting step forward with products from Boots and Cola-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) now hitting shelves throughout the UK.

Funded by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme), the rPET project has already seen Marks & Spencer working in conjunction with Closed Loop London to introduce post-use recycled plastic in the packaging for its ‘‘Food to Go‘‘ range. Now, products from the two other partners in the trial - Boots and CCE - are available to consumers throughout the UK.

The CCE trials involve 500ml ‘‘diet Coke‘‘ bottles as well as various other products of The Coca-Cola Company. It is the first time that CCE has trialled mechanically recycled plastic in its bottles in Great Britain. CCE is testing different types of recycled PET (including flake and pellet) at 25 per cent inclusion rate and around 1,000 tonnes of rPET will be used in total during the trial. All recycled materials have been fully approved by The Coca-Cola Company and are now in production, having passed CCE‘‘s stringent testing requirements.

Martin Rodgers, rPET Project Manager at CCE, says: "We anticipate that over 150 million 500ml bottles will be manufactured during the course of this trial. Support from WRAP has enabled CCE to evaluate the impact of different combinations of virgin and recycled PET and assess the viability of longer-term usage."

The products being trialled by Boots are also now on sale in stores. The company‘‘s high profile ‘‘Ingredients‘‘ range is being packaged in bottles with a 30 per cent rPET content, providing the opportunity to research the use of rPET in a non-food sector. Capitalising on Boots‘‘ in house development, manufacturing and product evaluation expertise, the project will asses the viability of using rPET in terms of efficient manufacture, product quality and consumer acceptance