The UK’s biggest milk delivery service, Milk & More, is aiming to use 500,000 fewer bottles a year by adjusting its systems so that each one can be reused by 15% more, as prices for glass increase.
The milk float operator is working with its supplier to get more durable bottles and has adjusted its machinery to reduce contact between the bottles and the side of the filling lines to reduce damage.
It is also installing scanners that can identify bottles that are reaching the end of their life, when tiny cracks in the surface cloud them, so they can be extracted individually rather than replacing the bottles en masse after a period fixed time
Patrick Müller, the chief executive, said Milk & More, which sells more than a million liters of dairy and non-dairy milks a week, is also asking customers to return more bottles to ensure they can be reused .
The changes come as the cost of glass bottles has more than doubled in recent years, with availability restricted amid growing global demand from manufacturers driven by consumers’ desire to avoid plastic and a return to normal trading as pandemic restrictions are lifted.
Although the UK glassmaking industry has said there is no shortage of bottles in the UK, manufacturers across Europe are struggling to keep up with demand as they have reduced production in the past when many beverage manufacturers switched to lighter and cheaper plastics.
The rise in the price of glass is on top of a 72% rise in the price of milk, while renewable electricity, used to power 40% of the group’s fleet or 500 vehicles, has tripled in price.
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Müller said the number of customers was staying at around 350,000, although this is down from the height of the coronavirus pandemic when numbers reached more than 400,000 as households requested deliveries to address to try to avoid crowded shops.
While some shoppers have returned to supermarkets, Müller said new customers were being attracted by a desire for more sustainable ways to buy produce, including using less plastic.
Milk & More now sells laundry liquid, shampoo and other household essentials in refillable glass bottles, as well as dry foods such as cereal, sugar and pasta in refillable containers, which are left and collected at the door.