A ‘green’ milk bottle made from recycled office waste paper which was trialled at a supermarket in Lowestoft is to be rolled out across East Anglia.

GreenBottle is made by a Suffolk-based company, and sells for a similar price to normal plastic bottles but has a carbon footprint that is 48pc lower.

It was introduced into Asda in Lowestoft in May 2007 with all 400 bottles sold and is now being rolled out across the region with milk supplied by Marybelle Dairy, near Halesworth.

Simon King, chief executive of GreenBottle, based in Framlingham, said: "It is made from used office paper, we don't cut down any trees. My business partner Martin Myerscough came up with the idea and we were able to able to test it for a year at the Lowestoft branch of Asda.

"We are going to start rolling it out in Lowestoft and go from there. We are taking a cautious approach to it but our plan is to grow the business and supply the rest of East Anglia and beyond."

The outer shell of the carton can be recycled again once it is used while the inner liner, which prevents liquid from contaminating the paper, takes up 0.5pc of the space of a plastic bottle if dumped in landfill.

James Strachan, director of Marybelle Dairy, said: "The GreenBottle system is the single biggest leap forward in dairy manufacturing technology in years. We are thrilled to be able to offer our customers the same high quality milk, in a more sustainable, high quality bottle."