Sweden first: Coca-Cola eyes first nationwide transition to 100 percent rPET bottles across major brands

25 Nov 2019 --- Targeting the elimination of 3,500 metric tons of virgin plastic each year from national production, Coca-Cola Sweden has announced plans to source the entirety of material for its plastic bottles from 100 percent recycled material. The transition will begin in the first quarter of 2020 and includes all plastic (PET) packaging made at Coca-Cola’s bottling plant in Jordbro. The move will make Sweden the first country worldwide where all Coca-Cola plastic bottles are made from 100 percent recycled PET (rPET).

“Our ambition is to see the words ‘single-use plastic’ and indeed ‘single-use packaging’ become obsolete, with all packaging collected and reused. We are committed to advancing the development of a circular economy, with 100 percent of our packaging collected, recycled or reused so that it does not end up as rubbish or end up in the environment,” Barbara Tönz, General Manager for Coca-Cola Sweden, tells PackagingInsights.

The move to 100 percent rPET bottles includes the brands Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite as well as Bonaqua, comprising 40 different variants. In addition, this ambition is expected to result in an annual reduction in CO2 emissions of 25 percent over pre-transition levels, when the portfolio comprised approximately 40 percent recovered PET.

“We recently announced that we will reach our goal of 50 percent recycled content in our plastic bottles by 2023, two years earlier than our original goal of 2025,” Tönz adds.

Coca-Cola has set out global goals, which include the goal to recover a bottle or can for every one that it sells by 2030. The beverage giant also targets reaching 50 percent recycled content in its PET bottles by 2030, encouraging local markets to go “further and faster” wherever it can.Coca-Cola expects to reach its goal of 50 percent recycled content by 2023, two years earlier than the original target.

“We’ve announced that we would be supporting well-designed deposit return schemes across Europe, where an effective alternative doesn’t already exist. This will help us to achieve our goal of 100 percent collection, ensuring that every bottle sees a second life,” Tönz explains.

“This will boost the supply of high quality recycled PET needed in our bottles, allowing us to continue to increase our use of rPET content and reduce our use of virgin PET material, both reducing plastic waste and lowering our carbon footprint. In Sweden, an effective deposit return scheme has been in place since 1984, with the local collection rate currently at 80 percent,” she further highlights.

“Sweden is at the forefront in several areas associated with packaging and sustainability. Our deposit and return system, Returpack, is among the best in the world, which is instrumental to our making this transition now. As a large industry player, we have a responsibility to contribute to circular economy within the beverage industry,” says Sofie Eliasson Morsink, General Manager for Coca-Cola European Partners Sweden.

Last week, The Coca‑Cola System, which comprises The Coca-Cola Company and its approximately 225 bottling partners worldwide, introduced the KeelClip minimalist paperboard packaging solution on multipack cans in Europe in what the company is calling a first for the NARTD (Non Alcoholic Ready to Drink) industry. This new type of packaging not only replaces the plastic wrap but also minimizes the amount of paper/cardboard that is required. 

Consumer and regulatory demand for the scaling back of virgin plastic use continues to intensify. Six out of ten European consumers (62 percent) say they would be willing to pay more for food products that contain less plastic packaging in a recent survey by UK-headquartered DS Smith. A similar number (59 percent) indicate that they sort and recycle more than they did five years ago.

Scaling down virgin plasticKHS launched the first recyclable juice bottle made from 100 percent rPET.
Across industry, players are recognizing the opportunities for innovation within the space of plastic reduction. 

Acknowledging the importance of a circular economy, Coexpan launched CorePET in October, the packaging specialist’s first 100 percent recycled PET (rPET) food grade sheet specifically formulated for the thermoforming market. The company says that this will allow customers to recover PET resin and use it in future products.

In the same month, German filling and packaging systems supplier KHS has launched the first recyclable juice bottle made of 100 percent rPET at the K 2019 show in Düsseldorf. PackagingInsights spoke to Philipp Langhammer, Product Manager Barrier Technology for KHS, from K 2019 about how the Beyond Juice bottle achieves full recyclability and “maximum product protection” for sensitive beverages.

In September, Food packaging manufacturer Sabert launched foodservice products made from 100 percent high-grade, post-consumer PET bottle flake. The move eliminates the need for virgin PET across the manufacturer’s portfolio and brings it a big step closer towards “closing the loop.”

Also in September, Danone-AQUA, a B Corp company and subsidiary of Danone, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Re>Pal Indonesia, a subsidiary of Range International, to convert its Oriented Polypropylene (OPP) plastic label waste into pallets.

By Benjamin Ferrer