MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Coca-Cola Company says it is introducing a new 13.2-oz bottle made from 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) in the US this month, with the initial rollout focused on Coca-Cola-branded products, reported Chemweek.
The company says other brands in the US, including Dasani and smartwater, are transitioning to 100% rPET bottles of various sizes.
Coca-Cola says the new bottle is “conveniently sized in a more sippable package.” The caps and label are not made from rPET, the company notes. Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar, and Coca-Cola Flavors in the 13.2 oz bottle will first be available in select states in the Northeast, Florida, and California, with national distribution to follow this summer.
“As part of a portfolio approach, 20 oz bottles made from 100% rPET are being introduced across Coca-Cola, Coke Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, and Coca-Cola Flavors beginning this month in California and New York and will continue to roll out this Spring in Texas,” says the company. “DASANI and smartwater will follow suit, introducing 20 oz bottles made from 100% rPET in March and July, respectively. Finally, in February, people in select markets will see a new 13.2 oz clear bottle from Sprite, also made from 100% rPET. The clear package makes it easier for bottles to be recycled and remade into new bottles. All Sprite packaging will transition to clear packaging by the end of 2022.”
In 2018, Coca-Cola pledged to collect and recycle the equivalent of one bottle or can for each one sold by 2030, to make 100% of packaging recyclable by 2025, and to use 50% recycled material in bottles and cans by 2030.
As MRC informed earlier, Coca-Cola will not ditch single-use plastic bottles because consumers still want them, the firm's head of sustainability told the BBC in late January, 2020. Customers like them because they reseal and are lightweight, said Bea Perez. The firm, which is one of the biggest producers of plastic waste, has pledged to recycle as many plastic bottles as it uses by 2030.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PET consumption totalled 71,830 tonnes in December 2020, up by 8% year on year. In 2020, PET consumption in all sectors (injection moulding, fibers/filaments, films) exceeded the level of 2019 by 17% and amounted to 717,310 tonnes.
MRC