Pulpex opens first commercial fibre bottle manufacturing facility near Glasgow

The fibre bottles are manufactured from sustainably sourced wood pulp, contain no hidden plastic and are recyclable | Pulpex

placeholder image — The fibre bottles are manufactured from sustainably sourced wood pulp, contain no hidden plastic and are recyclable | Pulpex

Pulpex, the UK packaging technology company, has opened its first commercial manufacturing facility near Glasgow, marking a major milestone in the scale-up of fibre-based packaging.

The site currently has a capacity of up to 40 million units per annum, and has created approximately 39 skilled manufacturing jobs and serves as the first step towards Pulpex's ambition of producing one billion bottles annually through a global network of Manufacture Under Licence partners.

Commercial demand has already been secured, with more than 90 per cent of the site's initial available capacity for the current financial year committed. Launch customers include household cleaning brand smol and Purely Scottish Natural Mineral Water, which plans to launch what is expected to be the UK's first natural mineral water in a paper bottle. More launches involving consumer brands across food, beverage, home care and personal care sectors are expected to be announced in the coming months.

The opening marks the transition of Pulpex fibre bottle technology from pilot-scale production into commercial manufacturing. The Glasgow facility at Westway will support customer launches, scaled production and future manufacturing partnerships while serving as the reference plant for Pulpex's international licensing strategy.

"The opening of our Glasgow facility marks the moment Pulpex moves from proving the technology to proving the industrial model," said Sandy Westwater, Chief Executive Officer of Pulpex. "Every Manufacture Under Licence discussion we have from today is a conversation about a working manufacturing facility rather than a prototype."

Pulpex's patent-protected fibre bottles are manufactured from sustainably sourced wood pulp, contain no hidden plastic and are designed to be recycled through existing household paper and card recycling systems. The bottles have also been developed for compatibility with established filling infrastructure, providing brand owners with a practical route to adopt renewable, lower-carbon packaging without major production-line modifications.

Pulpex's licensing model is designed to use the global network of established packaging production sites and experienced manufacturing partners already serving regional markets. By transferring its technology and operating model into this existing infrastructure, Pulpex can accelerate adoption, enable production closer to customer demand and support alignment with regional supply chains and recycling systems.

In Europe, Perlen Industrieholding AG has become Pulpex's first Manufacture Under Licence partner, securing manufacturing exclusivity across Switzerland, Austria, Italy and southern Germany. In Asia, Alternicq has secured exclusive rights to develop the market across India and the Gulf Cooperation Council region as a precursor to a full manufacturing partnership.

Together, these partnerships provide the foundation for scaling production from Glasgow's 40 million-unit capacity towards the company's ambition of one billion units annually through a global manufacturing network.

"With an initial capacity of up to 40 million units a year, Glasgow is the first step on our path to one billion units globally," said Scott Winston, Managing Director and Chief Science and Sustainability Officer at Pulpex. "This facility demonstrates how UK-developed innovation can create skilled manufacturing jobs, support lower-carbon packaging solutions and provide a scalable platform for international growth."

The Glasgow facility, supported by investment from the UK's National Wealth Fund and the Scottish National Investment Bank, will act as the operational blueprint for future licensees, supporting commercial launches, technology transfer and international manufacturing partnerships. As additional manufacturing partners come online, Pulpex's licensing-led growth model is designed to enable local production at scale while maintaining product consistency and compatibility with regional recycling infrastructure.