Coca-Cola Netherlands and Norway transition to 100% recycled PET

08 Sep 2020 --- Coca-Cola in Western Europe has announced transitions to 100 percent recycled PET (rPET) in the Netherlands and Norway. The shifts eradicate dependency on virgin oil-based plastics in PET bottles and support local closed-loop recycling systems facilitated by Dutch and Norwegian Deposit Return Schemes (DRS). From October 2020, Coca-Cola in the Netherlands will transition all its locally-produced small plastic bottles to 100 percent rPET, including iconic brands Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta.

Coca-Cola in the Netherlands plans to transition its large plastic bottles to 100 percent rPET in 2021, making it the second market to transition its locally produced portfolio. In December 2019, Coca-Cola Sweden became the first market to make the switch to 100 percent rPET.

The switch to 100 percent rPET in the Netherlands will eliminate an estimated 10,000 tons of new virgin oil-based plastic, amounting to a 21 percent reduction in the carbon footprint of its plastic bottles per year compared to the rPET level before the transition. Before the transition, the portfolio in the Netherlands already consisted of more than 50 percent rPET.

During the first half of 2021, Coca-Cola in Norway will transition to 100 percent rPET for all plastic bottles that it produces locally. This transition is estimated to remove around 4,300 tons of virgin oil-based plastic a year and deliver a 28 percent reduction in the carbon footprint of its plastic bottles per year compared with the rPET level before the switch when the portfolio in Norway was approximately 25 percent rPET. 

In October, Coca-Cola Netherlands will transition its small plastic bottles to 100 percent rPET.Both Coca-Cola in the Netherlands and Coca-Cola in Norway will be the first companies in their respective countries to move their entire portfolio of locally produced plastic bottles to 100 percent rPET, the company indicates.

The transitions support Coca-Cola’s ambition in Western Europe to accelerate towards using 100 percent rPET and eliminate new virgin oil-based PET in all of its bottles within the next decade. Coca-Cola in Western Europe’s move to local circular economies will contribute to removing a total of over 200,000 tons of new virgin, oil-based PET from its packaging portfolio annually.

DRS empowers circular transition
A key enabler for Coca-Cola’s switch to 100% recycled plastic material in the Netherlands and Norway is the rapidly expanding and effective DRSs operational in both countries. Coca-Cola in Western Europe recognizes the vital role that well-designed DRSs will play in its 100 percent rPET vision.

Well-designed DRSs can play an important role in delivering a circular economy for PET bottles at a local level, boosting PET bottle collection rates and increasing the quality of PET material collected with less contamination from other materials, making it much easier to recycle bottle to bottle.  

Supported by innovation in recycling technologies, DRSs have enabled the production of high-quality rPET resin in both Dutch and Norwegian markets, accelerating the transition to local circular economies for PET in these countries. In keeping with its commitment to build local circular economies for beverage packaging, Coca-Cola’s 100 percent rPET bottles produced in each market will be fully recyclable, so they can be used again as raw material for new bottles.

“Today’s announcement that Coca-Cola European Partners Netherlands and Coca-Cola European Partners Norway are making the switch to 100% rPET marks a vitally important step forwards on our journey to eliminating new virgin oil-based plastic across all our plastic bottles within a decade,” notes Joe Franses, Vice President Sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP).CCEP recently adopted CanCollar paperboard rings for multipack cans in the Balearic Islands, Spain.

“Crucially, this announcement provides a compelling case for the role that DRSs can play in the creation of local circular economies for beverage packaging. Markets with well-designed DRS such as those in Sweden, the Netherlands and Norway not only have high collection rates but also have the capacity to collect a higher grade of material with less contamination.”

“Coca-Cola in Western Europe is a firm supporter of the implementation of well-designed DRSs across Europe, recognizing the role they can play as part of local, closed-loop recycling system. We also remain committed to supporting innovative packaging and recycling technologies to help us to reach our target of 50 percent recycled content across all our plastic bottles by 2023,” Franses explains.

Eco-inspired investments
As part of its joint Sustainability Action Plan, This is Forward, CCEP and The Coca-Cola Company in Western Europe have pledged that by 2025, Coca-Cola will collect a can or bottle for every one it sells and ensure that all its packaging is 100 percent recyclable.

Moreover, the company will ensure that at least 50 percent of its PET bottle is sourced from recycled content by 2023, accelerating towards its ambition to use zero virgin oil-based PET in its PET bottles within a decade.

The announcement that Coca-Cola will transition to 100 percent rPET in the Netherlands and Norway follows several CCEP innovation and investment announcements, including its paperboard CanCollar packaging solution and investment in innovative recycling start-up, CuRe Technology.

Edited by Joshua Poole