Nampak Plastics will pass the milestone of using 10% recycled content in the manufacture of all its HDPE milk bottles when the final stage of a £1.5m project comes on line at the end of the month.

The rigid plastic container manufacturer supplies firms such as Dairy Crest and Robert Wiseman with around two billion bottles a year. Using 10% recycled material will save some 7,000 tonnes of virgin material a year and is in line with the government's Milk Road Map target.

"It is extremely satisfying to know that every single one of our bottles now has recycled content," he said.

"We've carried out extensive testing to ensure compliance with the extremely stringent food quality standards you would expect from this type of packaging."

Nampak has invested more than £1.5m in its seven UK sites to modify blowmoulding equipment and install new blending machines, material pipework and new silos to use recycled HDPE.

The Milk Road Map, published in 2008, set targets of 10% recycled content for milk bottles by this year, rising to 30% by 2015 and 50% by 2020.

Later this month, the Wrap-sponsored Recycled HDPE Milk Bottle Review will discuss how these targets can be achieved.

The meeting will look at the supply of recycled material and collection services and what changes might need to be made to run the recycled content through equipment.