Milk companies lift lid on plastic caps
Milk bottle caps are getting a snip as brands try to reduce their use of plastic.
Anchor will be reducing the size of all its milk bottle lids by a third in an attempt to be more environmentally conscious.
Managing director of Fonterra brands Leon Clement said the shorter caps were tested with a range of customers and had proved to be favourable.
Clement said the change was also a move towards complying with international milk producers, as England and Australia have already adopted the shorter cap.
‘‘The shorter cap is fast becoming the global industry standard so we wanted to align with this in New Zealand. This will also help us to future-proof our manufacturing process and enable us to continue to source suitable packaging materials in the long term,’’ Clement said.
Clement said Fonterra would be rolling out the new lids progressively.
‘‘While it’s taken some investment to set us up with the shorter caps, in the long term having a shorter cap will help us deliver more cost-effective dairy to our customers,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re looking ahead so we can keep costs down in the future.’’
The technical term for the reduced size of the milk bottle lids was called skirt shortening, as the the ridges resembled a skirt, Fonterra said.
A spokesperson for Countdown said it had also changed some of its Homebrand milk lids to a new design that used 40 per cent less plastic as part of its larger initiative to reduce waste.
This week Countdown announced it would be phasing out its single-use plastic bags by the end of next year.
Goodman Fielder, which owns Meadowfresh, and Lewis Road Creamery have been contacted for comment.