Coca-Cola is switching the „On the Go“ packaging of its core brands Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Coke light, Fanta, Sprite and Mezzo Mix to recycled material. Packaging up to and including 0.5 litres will now be sold in bottles made from 100 percent recycled PET (rPET).
Coca-Cola had already switched to recycled material for the non-refillable PET bottles of its ViO, Fuze Tea and Powerade brands in the spring. With this measure, Coca-Cola in Germany says it is already fulfilling its self-imposed target of using at least 50 per cent recycled material for the production of non-refillable PET bottles by 2023. According to the company, the changeover in 2021 will result in Around 28,000 tonnes of new material saved This corresponds to a CO2 saving of around 48,700 tonnes. Coca-Cola sells 99.9 per cent of its packaging in Germany with a deposit, which can either be recycled or refilled.
Coca-Cola launches awareness campaign on recycling
A functioning take-back system is crucial for recycling. To raise consumer awareness of the correct recycling cycle, on 13 September Coca-Cola launched a Awareness campaign for 100 per cent rPET. In addition to eye-catching out-of-home motifs, content on the website, social media and other communication channels will „take consumers on the journey of packaging in the recycling loop“. In collaboration with Coca-Cola, influencers will inform their communities about the topics of collection, recycling and sustainable packaging.
„rPET is a sought-after, limited-availability raw material that is also sourced by other sectors in the economy,“ explains Dr Stefan Kunerth, Technical Operations Director in Western Europe. „Currently, only around 40 per cent of single-use PET bottles are turned into new bottles. It is important to know that every bottle that leaves the beverage bottle deposit cycle becomes unusable for the beverage industry. This is because we need the following for rPET production unmixed PET material from food packaging from the deposit system. We would therefore like to motivate everyone to to do its part, to close the recycling loop.“
The promotion of closed material cycles is a key component of the sustainability strategy of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is still the largest reusable supplier in Germany. Between 2018 and 2020, the company invested 150 million euros in reusable bottling - in new reusable containers, the expansion of a reusable bottle pool and new reusable crates.
Source: Coca-Cola
Coca Cola's sustainability strategy in our industry talk
Why Coca Cola is experimenting with the paper bottle, but above all why it has a clear view of the circular economy and is well on the way to becoming a circular company. Bottle made from 100% recycled material Dr Stefan Kunerth from Coca Cola also talked about this in our Industry talk on packaging journal TV spoken.
