Milk pounches take up less landfill space

Dairy Crest is following the example of Canadian dairies which has used the plastic milk pouches for 30 years.

It is marketing the pouches, mainly in supermarkets, as "the smart environmental choice".

The pouches, aimed at large families, are sold in pairs to make up four-pint packs.

They freeze easily.

Dairies and shops provide milk jugs to hold the pouches when they are cut open.

Carton war

Glass bottles have been competing with plastic cartons since the 1960s.

Plastic bottles are increasingly popular

In the last decade, plastic bottles have started to nudge cartons off the shelves.

British consumers got through nine billion pints of milk last year.

Last year about 90% of that milk was bought in a plastic container.

Milkmen have been going the same way as their bottles, with nearly 75% of milk being purchased in supermarkets and shops last year.

A Dairy Crest spokesman said the trial need not mean the end of glass bottles.

"This is purely a piece of market research and is by no means a replacement for the doorstep glass milk bottle," he said.

"There are no plans for it to replace anything. The trial is just to gauge public opinion.

"In many ways it is more attractive to put milk from the pouch in to a jug and have that on the table, rather than a plastic bottle."