Pulpex opens £40m-a-year fibre bottle factory near Glasgow
Packaging technology company Pulpex has opened its first commercial-scale fibre bottle factory in Renfrew, near Glasgow, creating around 39 skilled manufacturing jobs.
The new facility at Westway Industrial Estate has an initial capacity of up to 40 million bottles annually. Pulpex says more than 90% of its available production capacity for the current financial year has already been committed to customers.
Announced on 8 October 2026, the opening marks the company’s move from pilot-scale development to commercial manufacturing.
Pulpex chief executive Sandy Westwater said: “The opening of our Glasgow facility marks the moment Pulpex moves from proving the technology to proving the industrial model.”
First customers confirmed for fibre bottles
The factory will produce bottles made from wood pulp for customers in sectors including household products, food and drink.
Household cleaning brand smol is introducing Pulpex bottles for liquid laundry products, while Purely Scottish Natural Mineral Water plans to launch what Pulpex expects to be the UK’s first natural mineral water sold in a paper bottle.
The mineral water launch follows an 18-month collaboration between the companies.
Pulpex says its bottles contain no hidden plastic and are designed to be recycled through existing household paper and card collections. The company also says the packaging can be used with established filling equipment.
Further launches are expected across food, drink, home care and personal care.
£62m investment supports Scottish manufacturing
The Renfrew factory follows a £62m Series D funding round announced in February 2025.
The opening adds a new manufacturing operation to the region’s business community, with the facility joining other Renfrewshire businesses based west of Glasgow.
The National Wealth Fund invested £43.5m, with a further £10m from the Scottish National Investment Bank and the balance supplied by existing investors.
The initial investment announcement anticipated production of 50 million bottles annually and more than 35 new jobs. The newly opened facility has a stated initial capacity of up to 40 million bottles and has created approximately 39 positions.
The Westway site will also serve as a reference factory for Pulpex’s international licensing model, which allows packaging manufacturers to produce its bottles closer to their own markets.
Swiss packaging group Perlen Industrieholding is its first manufacturing licensee, with exclusivity covering Switzerland, Austria, Italy and southern Germany.
Alternicq has secured exclusive market-development rights across India and the Gulf Cooperation Council region, ahead of a proposed manufacturing agreement.
Pulpex’s longer-term ambition is to reach annual production of one billion bottles through its international network.
Scott Winston, the company’s managing director, described the Renfrew facility as “the first step on our path to one billion units globally”.
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