Coca-Cola announced its initiative to change its bottles by increasing the use of recycled plastic. This environmental endeavor is facilitated through funding a new startup, marking a strategic shift in the company's approach to more eco-friendly packaging.
This initiative is part of Coca-Cola's commitment to environmental responsibility and reducing its carbon footprint.
Coca-Cola to Change Its Bottles in Response to Global Plastic Pollution Crisis
The Sierra Club highlights Coca-Cola's significant role in the global plastic pollution crisis, threatening marine life, human health, and the environment.
In 2022, Coca-Cola, known as the world's top plastic polluter, is making another attempt to improve its recycling efforts. Despite a long history of only recycling a small amount of plastic packaging, the company produces a staggering 200,000 bottles per minute, totaling around 3 million tons annually.
According to The Coca-Cola Company's website, packaging waste and climate change challenges have become a priority for their business. Coca-Cola and its bottling partners critically evaluate their packaging usage to initiate significant changes.
Their strategy focuses on establishing a circular economy for packaging, encompassing the design, manufacturing, recycling, and reuse of bottles and cans. The company acknowledges its role in addressing the global plastic waste crisis. It utilizes its extensive global reach to achieve sustainability goals, reduce waste pollution, and lower its carbon footprint.
In 2018, Coca-Cola launched its "World Without Waste" initiative, focusing on three main goals: designing 100% recyclable packaging by 2025 and using at least 50% recycled material by 2030, collecting and recycling a bottle or can for every one sold by 2030, and partnering to support environmentally healthy communities.
By 2022, 61% of their bottles and cans were collected for recycling or refill. Currently, 90% of their packaging is recyclable, and they are actively working with various partners to reduce waste and increase the use of recycled PET (rPET) packaging in over 40 markets.
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Coca-Cola's New Promise with Dutch Tech
Coca-Cola has again committed to sustainable packaging by investing in a Dutch startup, CuRe. According to Wouter Vermeulen, Coca-Cola's senior director of sustainability in Europe, CuRe has developed a groundbreaking technology capable of converting hard-to-recycle plastics into food-grade material.
This initiative is part of Coca-Cola's broader effort to reduce reliance on virgin packaging materials derived from oil and to enhance recycling practices. The focus is on scaling this technology in Europe before extending it to other markets.
In 1990, Coca-Cola pledged to include an average of 25% recycled material in its plastic bottles. Still, over 30 years later, only about 10% has been achieved, as noted by The Plastic Soup Foundation. Despite this shortfall, Coca-Cola aims to increase this figure to 50% by 2030, reports The Wall Street Journal.
This target, however, does little to mitigate Coca-Cola's significant role in plastic pollution, with the company producing 100 billion plastic bottles annually. Interestingly, Coca-Cola had set a similar goal of 50% recycled plastic for 2020 in 2017.
Coca-Cola has set a goal to use 50% recycled plastic in its bottles by 2030. However, there are concerns about the company's genuine commitment to this initiative, with some believing it's more focused on positive publicity than actual environmental impact.
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