Description
In the current economic landscape, consumers demand not only good quality and environmentally friendly products, but also an affordable price, for which they want products that meet their expectations. To meet such market demands and to create valuable products for consumers the company JSC AKVAVITA and Norwegian partner Berg Holding AS will develop the project “Green Innovation for Lightweight PET Bottle Development in AKVAVITA” on a mutual basis with the intention of introducing the product or derived products to the international market. The project objective is to increase JSC AKVAVITA competitiveness by implementing green innovations with lightweight PET bottles (30% natural ingredients and 70% recycled content) and by increasing the recycling of PET bottles in Lithuania. The new PET eco-bottle of JSC AKVAVITA will reduce its environmental footprint and create a positive influence in the communities by minimizing waste and increasing PET recycling. Once the company implements this technology, other brand companies in Lithuania can explore similar technologies as well to lower the footprint of the industry as a whole.
Summary of project results
In the current economic conditions, consumers demand not only good quality and environmentally friendly products, but also at affordable price, for which they want to get products that would meet their expectations. To meet market demand and to create valuable products for nowadays consumers JSC “AKVAVITA” and Berg Holding AS developed the project “Green Innovation for Lightweight PET Bottle Development in AKVAVITA”. It turns out that plastic bottles weight can be greatly reduced up to 30 percent: in production using less plastic, such a bottle becomes easier and more comfortable to carry with itself. Changes in production also solve one of the biggest challenges of the modern industry – make it possible to use more natural resources and reduce production waste. JSC “Akvavita” hopes that such bottles will become popular in the market and contribute to the biggest environmental problem – pollution – the created bottle is 100% recyclable. The main objective of this project was to increase the company’s competitive advantage by introducing green innovations in the process of developing a lightweight PET bottle and promoting the processing of these packaging in Lithuania. The new packaging will be offered for other Lithuanian companies. During the project 6 bottle design prototypes were created, from which it was chosen the most suitable for consumers and most suitable for mass production. Totally 6 bottle shapes are made for still and carbonated natural mineral water. The bottle created during the project are made using 30% natural and 70% – recycled materials. New bottles are thinner, softer, which improves their compressibility – an important factor in the recycling process. 100 percent produced and used PET bottles will be processed into textiles, building materials, plastics, furniture, etc. Innovation will have a positive impact on ecology in other aspects as well. First of all, the smaller use of plastic will save 54-72 tons of plastic per year (16% of the total amount of plastic used). In addition, logistics costs will be reduced by 10%, the pollution tax – 16%, electricity costs – 40%. The total carbon emissions are expected to fall by 70%. Other companies will be able to use the benefits of the new bottle, without initial investment and research, and contribute to the positive environmental impact. Successful and innovative products will be further developed to remain competitive on international markets.
Summary of bilateral results
The project partner during the project and after consulted the Project promoter in the field of green innovation implementation, assisted in the presentation of new green products and undertake introduction to the market strategy creation, evaluated the developed bottle prototypes attractiveness for Scandinavian market, and shared experience and assisted in solving emerging problems. The cooperation with the Norwegian partner enabled JSC AKVAVITA to introduce their green project to the Scandinavian market, and other Lithuanian companies will be able to use the Lithuanian trade awareness of Lithuanian production for entering this market.