National Wealth Fund

Pulpex to open first commercial-scale paper bottle plant near Glasgow

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.

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