London, May 8, 2023 – Coca-Cola announces that all PET bottles across its entire beverage portfolio are made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET), further confirmation of its commitment to an increasingly circular economy. The new 100% rPET bottles, as always 100% recyclable, are used not only for Coca-Cola products, but also for other major brands of the company: Fanta, Sprite, Powerade, Kinley and FuzeTea.
An important milestone made possible also thanks to the reopening of CCH CircularPET's Gaglianico factory, a center of excellence in innovation and environmental sustainability, with pioneering technologies in Europe. From a bottling plant decommissioned a few months ago, it has been converted into a state-of-the-art plant for the processing of recycled PET and, with over 30 million euros of investment, the hub is now an innovative 18,000 m2 plant capable of transforming up to 30,000 tons of PET per year into new 100% recycled PET bottles.
The extension of the entire portfolio to bottles made entirely of recycled plastic is part of Coca-Cola's long-term World Without Waste strategy and is just Coca-Cola's latest step towards sustainability. It was the first non-alcoholic beverage company to introduce a bottle made with 100% rPET on the Italian market and has been committed for years to the reduction of the raw material in glass, aluminum and plastic packaging. It has recently extended Tethered Caps to all brands in the portfolio, with the aim of simplifying collection and recycling and reducing the dispersion and impact of plastic on the environment. Other milestones on this path were the renunciation of the orange color of Fanta bottles and the green of Sprite bottles, which made it easier to recycle them into new bottles, and the introduction of KeelClip™ secondary packaging, a 100% recyclable paper system that allows you to do without plastic wrapping for multiple packs of cans.
Starting from its commitment to environmental circularity and the importance of design innovation in a sustainable way, evidenced by the continuous search for new materials and solutions capable of reducing the impact of packaging, the Company also wants to make a contribution to raising awareness of the importance of collection and recycling: this is why Coca-Cola is starting a collaboration with Coripet, the voluntary non-profit consortium recognized by the Ministry of the Environment, and IED – European Institute of Design to involve young designers in a path dedicated to sustainability.
The goal is to stimulate the new generations on the theme of the circular economy of PET and the importance of recycling, through a contest for the creation of a Recycling Machine with an innovative design, from an aesthetic and experiential point of view. After an initial phase of research and analysis, aimed at identifying new scenarios of interaction and implementation of tools to encourage virtuous behavior in consumers, the course will proceed with a thematic and educational lecture by Coripet and Coca-Cola, to guide IED Milan students in the design and development of a new aesthetic look and a user experience related to eco-compactors, but also in the study of new languages and sustainable scenarios in the future. The Company, based on the documents presented, will identify the most innovative and deserving project by the end of the year.