Pulpex has started production at its first commercial-scale fibre bottle plant near Glasgow, with initial capacity of 40 million units a year and an ambition to scale to 1 billion units. More than 90% of the plant's capacity for the current financial year has already been secured, including by Purely Scottish Natural Mineral Water and smol.
Why this mattersFirst industrial-scale supply of plastic-free fibre bottles gives brand owners an alternative to PET and glass, and gives licensees a route into the format regionally.
- The plant near Glasgow started commercial production in October 2026 with initial capacity of 40 million units a year.
- Long-term target is 1 billion units globally.
- More than 90% of the plant's capacity for the current financial year is secured; early adopters include Purely Scottish Natural Mineral Water and smol.
- Pulpex is backed by a consortium including Diageo, Unilever, PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz.
- Swiss manufacturer Perlen Industrieholding holds licence rights for Switzerland, Austria, Italy and southern Germany.
- India-based Alternicq holds exclusive development rights for India and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Diageo has introduced a security seal on its spirits bottles sold in Brazil that consumers can authenticate using a smartphone. The rollout follows a methanol-contamination crisis in Brazil in late 2025 that caused several deaths and hundreds of illnesses linked to counterfeit alcoholic beverages.
Why this mattersBrand owners are turning to smart authentication on packaging to rebuild consumer trust after fatal counterfeiting incidents in emerging markets.
- Diageo introduced a smartphone-authenticated seal for spirits sold in Brazil
- The measure follows a late-2025 methanol contamination crisis in Brazil
- The contamination caused several deaths and hundreds of illnesses
- The seal lets consumers verify product authenticity via smartphone
Pulpex is opening its first commercial-scale paper bottle factory near Glasgow this month, with capacity building towards 40 million bottles a year across three production lines. Initial output supplies bottles for Purely Scottish mineral water and Smol laundry detergent going on sale this autumn. The plant was funded by a USD 82m (GBP 62m) raise announced last year, including USD 57.5m (GBP 43.5m) from the UK National Wealth Fund and USD 13.2m (GBP 10m) from the Scottish National Investment Bank.
Why this mattersA working single-material paper bottle with an integrated barrier moves from pilot to commercial scale, testing whether the technology can displace plastic bottling at volume.
- Pulpex's first commercial-scale factory is opening near Glasgow this month.
- Capacity is set to build towards a maximum of 40 million bottles per year across three lines.
- Initial paper bottles supply Purely Scottish mineral water and Smol laundry detergent, on sale this autumn.
- The factory was funded by a USD 82m (GBP 62m) raise announced last year.
- USD 57.5m (GBP 43.5m) came from the UK National Wealth Fund and USD 13.2m (GBP 10m) from the Scottish National Investment Bank.
- The bottle is moulded from wood pulp with a water-based barrier coating making up six to seven per cent of total weight, containing no PET or HDPE.
UK homecare brand Smol has rolled out a wood-pulp fibre laundry detergent bottle using Pulpex technology, targeting the 58 million plastic laundry liquid containers sold annually in the UK. The launch follows a GBP 62m (USD 83.0m) funding round at Pulpex, including GBP 43.5m (USD 58.3m) from the UK National Wealth Fund, to build the company's first commercial-scale manufacturing plant in Scotland. Pulpex says the bottle, fitted with a recyclable plastic dosing cap, has passed the 4evergreen recyclability methodology for paper mill processing.
Why this mattersA first at-scale fmcg deployment of paper detergent bottles tests whether fibre packaging can displace plastic in a high-volume, liquid-fill category.
- Smol's bottle uses Pulpex wood-pulp fibre technology with an ultra-thin water-based barrier lining.
- It targets 58 million plastic laundry liquid containers sold in the UK each year, over 8,120 tonnes of plastic.
- The bottle passed the 4evergreen recyclability methodology for paper mill processing.
- Pulpex has raised a GBP 62m (USD 83.0m) funding round, including GBP 43.5m (USD 58.3m) from the UK National Wealth Fund.
- The funding will build Pulpex's first commercial-scale manufacturing facility, in Scotland.
- Unilever unveiled a prototype paper detergent bottle for its Omo/Persil/Skip/Breeze brands five years earlier but has not launched it in UK grocery.
- Pulpex has built the manufacturing facility in Scotland financed by its GBP 62m (USD 83.0m) funding round.
- The Scotland plant is intended to bring paper water bottles to retail shelves amid tightening plastic packaging regulation.
Guala Closures has launched an enhanced version of its Alusnap premium aluminium closure, adding advanced embossing and debossing options and a new tamper-evident indicator feature. The upgrade targets counterfeiting in the spirits sector, which the company cites industry estimates put at 25% to 40% of global consumption. The closure is made across Guala's plants in Italy, Ukraine, India and Bulgaria.
Why this mattersAnti-counterfeiting features on closures give premium spirits brands a differentiator as illicit product estimates run as high as 40% of global consumption.
- Alusnap closure upgraded with new embossing, debossing and surface-texture options for aluminium shells.
- New tamper-evident feature called Indicator can now be integrated into the platform.
- Guala Closures cites industry estimates that 25% to 40% of spirits consumed globally may be counterfeit or illicit.
- Alusnap is produced across Guala Closures facilities in Italy, Ukraine, India and Bulgaria.
- Guala Closures reported over EUR 923m in revenue in 2025 with more than 5,000 employees and 39 production facilities.
- Alusnap's anti-refill technology uses a dual glass-ball valve system
- Alusnap's anti-pull-out mechanism uses a hook that locks the pourer onto the bottle neck
- Alusnap production has been extended to include facilities in Mexico and Scotland, in addition to Bulgaria, Italy, India and Ukraine
- The upgraded Alusnap closure adds an anti-extraction hook design that locks the pourer to the bottle neck.
- Guala Closures introduced a new manufacturing technology intended to make premium closures harder to reproduce.
- Diageo has begun rolling out a smartphone-verifiable security seal across its spirits portfolio in Brazil.
- SpiritSeal has launched an NFC-based bottle authentication and provenance platform.
