He ain’t heavy: IRN-BRU maker commits to less plastic

By David Eldridge
Posted 9 March 2010 9:51 am GMT
Scottish soft drinks company AG Barr, maker of the IRN-BRU carbonated drink, is planning to cut the amount of PET it uses in bottles across all its product ranges.
Working with Zero Waste Scotland, AG Barr will aim to reduce PET plastic use in bottles produced at its Cumbernauld factory by 8%, representing a saving of 375 tonnes of PET a year.
By the end of this month, all bottles of Strathmore Spring Water will contain 25% recycled PET, the company said.

The plan was unveiled as part of the Courtauld Commitment 2, to which AG Barr is a signatory. Under this, 29 retail groups have agreed to a second phase of packaging reduction for their products, including Robert Wiseman Dairies, which also has operations in Scotland.
Iain Gulland, director of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “We’re thrilled that major Scottish companies, like AG Barr and Robert Wiseman Dairies, as well as the major supermarket retailers, have committed to this new agreement so early on, and we’ll continue to work with the rest of the supply chain to ensure we deliver the stretching targets we’ve all agreed to.”
Roger White, CEO of AG Barr, said: “We are delighted to be the first new Scottish company to sign up to this important agreement and we are committed to the development of a broad range of initiatives aimed at minimising our ongoing use of packaging resources.”