Beloved beverages including Coca-Cola, Sprite
and Fanta in 500mL bottles will be made with 100% recycled plastic
bottles*, saving 7.6 million pounds of new plastic in 2024
alone
TORONTO, Oct. 26,
2023 /CNW/ - Today, The Coca-Cola Company is
announcing that all its 500mL sparkling beverage bottles in
Canada will be made with 100%
recycled plastic* (*excluding caps and labels) by early 2024. This
marks the first time 500mL sparkling beverages will be sold in
bottles made from 100% recycled plastic* in Canada.
"With this transition, no virgin PET plastic will be used for
our sparkling 500mL bottles under normal circumstances going
forward in Canada," said
Kurt Ritter, Vice President &
General Manager, Sustainability, Coca-Cola North America. "We hope
that transitioning our 500mL sparkling portfolio to 100% recycled
plastic will increase the amount of high-quality, food-grade,
recycled plastic available in Canada and, ultimately, enable us to offer
more of our brands in this sustainable format."
The shift supports The Coca-Cola Company's World Without Waste
goals to use at least 50% recycled content in its packaging by
2030, and to reduce the use of virgin plastic. It's projected to
save 7.6 million pounds of new plastic in 2024 alone, as well as
reduce nearly 7,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions
annually which is the equivalent of taking nearly 1,500 cars off
the road for one year.
Bottles made with 100% recycled plastic* create and sustain a
circular economy for plastic packaging. Once the material
(PET) is recycled, it is cleaned, sorted and ground into small
flakes that become raw material for more new bottles. To build
awareness and encourage consumers to continue recycling bottles,
all 100% recycled plastic bottles* will feature "Recycle Me Again"
messaging.
"We're proud to partner with The Coca-Cola Company on our
transition to 100% recycled plastic bottles across Canada," said Todd
Parsons, CEO of Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited. "We're on
a journey to be the leading beverage partner in Canada, and one of the ways we're doing that
is by earning our social license to operate by driving a circular
economy for our packaging. Every one of these 100% recycled plastic
bottles represents meaningful progress on that journey."
The new 100% recycled plastic bottles* will be produced locally
at the Brampton, O.N.,
Calgary, A.B., Lachine, Q.C., and Richmond, B.C., manufacturing facilities, by
Coke Canada Bottling. An independent, family-owned business, Coke
Canada Bottling facilities from coast-to-coast are home to 6,000
diverse employees who proudly make, distribute, merchandise, and
sell the most-loved beverages Canadians enjoy.
The Replay Arcade
Coca-Cola Canada is celebrating the launch—which follows last
year's nationwide rollout of DASANI bottles made from 100% recycled
plastic*—with a pop-up experiential activation in Toronto, Ontario called The Replay
Arcade.
Guests who bring in an empty plastic beverage bottle (all brands
and sizes are welcome) to be recycled will receive 12 game tokens
and a Coca-Cola beverage in a 100% recycled plastic bottle*. The
Replay Arcade, located at Stackt Market at 28 Bathurst Street, will
be open Nov. 10-12 from noon until 8 p.m. Entry is free and no tickets or
reservations are needed.
*Excluding caps and labels
About The Coca-Cola
Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company
with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our
company's purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We
sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage
categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands
includes Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our hydration, sports,
coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater,
Topo Chico, Powerade, Costa,
Georgia, Gold Peak, Honest and
Ayataka. Our nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverage
brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and AdeS. We're constantly
transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to
bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively
impact people's lives, communities and the planet through water
replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices
and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together
with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people,
helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide.
Learn more at www.coca-cola.ca.
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SOURCE The Coca‑Cola Company