Coca-Cola ends use of non-recycled plastic

Coca-Cola Great Britain has announced that it will use 100% recycled plastic for all its on-the-go bottles across its entire range, saving 29,000 tonnes of virgin plastic every year.

The rollout commences across the UK in September, and will increase the amount of recycled plastic material in smaller bottles of 500ml or less from 50% to 100%.

The move covers Coca-Cola's entire portfolio of brands including Coca-Cola Original Taste, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Dr Pepper and Lilt

This change is another step on the company's journey towards 100% recycled or renewable plastic in all its bottles, and the creation of a circular economy for its PET packaging.

“This announcement marks an important step towards our global aim to help collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one that we sell by 2025,” said Jon Woods, general manager at Coca-Cola Great Britain.

“But there is still more we as an industry can do in order to increase the availability of food-grade recycled plastic locally available in Great Britain.

“That’s why we support the introduction of a well-designed deposit return scheme, to ensure we collect more bottles and are able to produce more high-quality recycled plastic which can be converted into new bottles.”

More broadly, Coca-Cola continues to use the power of its brands and advertising in order to encourage people to recycle more – from launching major advertising campaigns, to including recycling messages on its packaging, in all marketing campaigns and experiential events.

Last month the company launched a new marketing campaign for its GLACÉAU Smartwater brand, encouraging more people to recycle the bottles. Bold messaging on-pack reminds consumers that the bottles are 100% recyclable and made from 100% recycled PET plastic.

Helen Bird, strategic technical manager at WRAP, commented: “It takes 75% less energy to make a plastic bottle from recycled plastic, and with plastic waste significantly contributing to fossil emissions when incinerated it’s never been more important to specify recycled content and keep packaging in a circular system.

“It’s positive to see Coke, founding members of The UK Plastics Pact, continuing to push the boundaries on design and engaging with its customers to place the bottles in the recycling, since achieving 100% recycled content is going to be strongly reliant on getting those bottles back.”

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