Plastic packaging specialist Petainer (Peterborough / UK; www.petainer.com) has developed what it describes as its "greenest ever" refillable bottle, which is manufactured using more than 25% post-consumer "one-way" recycled PET but has the same performance characteristics as a refillable bottle made entirely from virgin material. The company said it is now discussing adoption of the new bottles with bottled water companies, carbonated drinks producers and brewers across Europe.

Nigel Pritchard, group chief executive, said the bottles “are eco-friendly because they use up to 90% less virgin material per filling. This performance is improved even further by the introduction of post-consumer recyclate which means that the bottles now require less energy and other resources to manufacture.”