Scottish & Newcastle has introduced a lighter bottle for its Strongbow and Strongbow Sirrus cider, reducing the weight by 14 per cent.

SABMiller has reduced the weight of its 330ml Miller Genuine Draft bottle by 8 per cent, while Marston's has introduced a new 500ml bottle across its whole range that is 22 per cent lighter than its predecessor.

On top of similar moves by two other UK-based brewers, the five firms have together saved 3,800 tonnes of glass and 2,515 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of taking more than 800 cars off the road, according to the UK-based Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

The government-funded organisation works with industry to promote recycling and more efficient use of packaging materials. Its GlassRite programme is backing a move towards lightweight glass packaging across the drinks industry.

"GlassRite has…shown what can be done to lightweight glass containers," said Andy Dawe, WRAP's Head of Retail Programmes, in a release.

The project has seen industry buy-in as consumers become increasingly aware of companies' impact on the environment and governments come under pressure to meet targets for reduced CO2 output. The food and drink industry in the UK accounts for 10 per cent of all industrial and commercial waste or 6.5 million tonnes, according to the government, and it says reductions can be made particularly in packaging.

In response, industry group the Food and Drink Federation pledged in October last year that its members would cut packing materials by 340,000 tonnes by 2010, from the 4.6m tonnes used in 2005, a reduction of 13 per cent.

Using less glass or other materials can also reduce material and transport costs for processors and cuts down on the amount of waste send to landfill.

WRAP has already promoted the use of lightweight wine bottles, which have been adopted by supermarkets Morrisons and Tesco and wine brand owners Constellation Europe and PLB Wines. Major contract bottler Broadland Wineries recently launched the UK's first lightweight bottle for sparkling wine.

The organisation has estimated that the food sector could save a minimum of 65,000 tonnes of glass and 175,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2009 or the equivalent of taking 28,000 cars off the road.

The food, flavoured alcoholic beverage and soft drink sectors account for 34 per cent of the UK's total container glass use, according to Wrap's research. The organisation has a £8m research fund set up for the GlassRite project