Sustainable packaging firm Frugalpac has launched a new high-speed production machine designed to accelerate the rollout of paper bottles across the drinks industry, as pressure mounts on producers to cut carbon and packaging costs.
The Suffolk-based company’s new Frugal Bottle Assembly Machine 2 (FBAM-2) can produce up to 14 million bottles annually in its standard configuration – more than five times the capacity of its predecessor.
Marking what the company describes as a “step change” in the scalability of lower-carbon packaging, the launch aims to address limited manufacturing capacity in the expectation that faster production lines will help to accelerate wider adoption of paper bottles. By enabling production at industrial scale and closer to bottling lines, Frugalpac also said the technology could significantly reduce supply chain costs, emissions and reliance on traditional glass.
“The FBAM-2 is the industrial rollout the mass market has been waiting for,” JP Grogan, product director at Frugalpac, commented (pictured).
“The technology is ready; the era of heavy glass is over.”
Engineered to cover everything from spirits and wine to oils and RTDs, each Frugal Bottle made from recycled paperboard saves 348g of CO₂e compared to a glass bottle. Around four million bottles have been produced since its launch in 2020, with a mix of retailer own-label and challenger brands jumping on the paper bandwagon. These include Aldi’s Cambalala wines, When in Rome and Bonny Doon, alongside spirits such as Greenall’s gin.
As well as being faster, the updated system has also been designed to deliver cost savings. The latest iteration of its paper bottle is now up to 30% cheaper than previous versions, putting it on par with labelled glass bottles (or better), the company says.
The move comes at a time when energy and materials costs remain volatile, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes – which are increasing the cost burden associated with heavier materials such as glass – are being launched across the UK.
According to IGD data, alcoholic drinks account for roughly a third of supermarket packaging impact, driven largely by glass bottles.
Frugalpac is not alone in targeting glass alternatives. It sits among a growing field of packaging disruptors such as Packamama which is gaining traction with lighter-weight PET formats in wine.
Frugalpac chief executive Malcolm Waugh added that the role of packaging in the drinks sector is undergoing a fundamental shift.
“For decades, glass has been the default for wine and spirits. But it’s heavy, energy-intensive and increasingly expensive to use and recycle. What’s changed is that packaging is no longer just a design choice, it’s a climate decision,” he said.
