British sustainable packaging company Frugalpac, manufacturer of the world’s first commercially available wine and spirits bottle made from recycled paper, has welcomed the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee’s call for VAT reductions in green sectors to grow back better after covid-19 and create a circular economy.

The Environmental Audit Committee’s report “Growing back better: putting nature and net zero at the heart of the economic recovery” published today (Wednesday February 17) calls for VAT reductions to items that have been recycled to encourage a circular economy. It also says the Government should also look wider and consider applying carbon taxes in areas across the economy.

Frugalpac is a British company which creates and supplies recycled paper-based products with the lowest carbon footprint that are easily recycled so they don’t need go to landfill.

Frugalpac’s Frugal Bottle, made from 94% recycled paperboard with a food grade pouch, is five times lighter than glass, has six times lower carbon footprint and offers 360-degree branding for exceptional shelf stand-out. Polling by Survation found that 63% of UK wine drinkers would buy wine in a paper bottle.

Frugalpac was recently praised by the UK Government’s Department for International Trade’s GREAT Britain campaign as one of the UK organisations “doing incredible things to help build a global sustainable future” in the run up to next year’s COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow.

Commenting on the report, Frugalpac Chief Executive Malcolm Waugh said: “This report is hugely important and makes a welcome contribution into how we build a sustainable green recovery. Supporting UK businesses and innovations using recycled material will really help companies like ours and grow the circular economy.

“The UK doesn’t make enough recycled paperboard so cutting VAT would really help stimulate domestic production. It would also give our recycled paper products a real competitive edge against ones made from virgin paper material, like conventional coffee cups.

“The committee’s call for the introduction of an economy-wide carbon tax would also be a massive gamechanger to businesses like ours who are producing recycled paperboard packaging that has the lowest carbon footprint.

“Reducing VAT and introducing a carbon tax to promote recycled materials would not only be good for business, it will be better for the environment and help fuel the Government’s Green Industrial Revolution so we can get to Net Zero as soon as possible.”

Since launching the Frugal Bottle last June, the first wine by Cantina Goccia in a Frugal Bottle has proved to be so popular it completely sold out its run of bottles twice, with one wine chain, Woodwinters in Scotland, selling its whole stock in in just one day. The 3Q red wine in a paper bottle proved so popular that Cantina Goccia now intend to make paper bottles a permanent fixture and will release a white and rose wine in Frugal Bottles too.

Frugal Bottles are currently being produced at a new manufacturing facility in Wickham Market near Ipswich owned by Group Roland but Frugalpac’s business model is to build Frugal Bottle machine platforms for export around the world, to reduce the carbon footprint even further.

Frugalpac has also partnered with Surrey’s Silent Pool Distillers to meet orders to fill Frugal Bottles for a growing list of international wine and spirits orders. A dedicated filling line has been installed at their distillery in Albury and this partnership will also see Silent Pool release the world’s first gin in a paper bottle in March.