Chilled beverage brand Jimmy’s Iced Coffee is adopting bio-based caps for its drinks cartons to reduce its impact on the environment.

The new caps, set to hit shelves this December, are the brand’s latest step towards fully renewable packaging and achieving its pledge to be plastic free by 2020.

The energy used to create the bio-caps is derived from sugar cane plants instead of fossil fuels; a bio-based fuel source that significantly reduces the CO2 output in the Jimmy’s production chain.

The new caps will perform in exactly the same way as the original in terms of strength and weight, but the CO2 output will be 50% less than that used to make the brand’s original plastic cap. This combined with the renewable paper-based carton, means Jimmy’s packaging for its drinks range is now made from 54% plant-based materials.

Jimmy’s Iced Coffee has also committed to using single origin Arabica coffee beans from Columbia’s Huila coffee region and Rainforest Alliance certified farms to create its products.

Jim Cregan co-founder of Jimmy’s, said: “It’s really important our packaging is as sustainable as possible. We’re working hard to become plastic free, so bringing in bio-based caps was the natural next step. To now have a carton that’s made predominantly from plants is very cool and reduces our environmental footprint even further. We know there’s a lot more to be done but using caps made from a renewable sugar cane source is a strong start and something we’re stoked about.”