Coca-Cola, only recycled plastic bottles

The difference is barely noticeable, from the color: the 100% recycled plastic one is a little more opaque. But if you go to the substance, it changes a lot. Because Coca-Cola now makes all PET bottles of its entire soft drink portfolio only from recycled plastic. An important milestone made possible thanks to an investment of 30 million euros by Coca-Cola HBC, the main bottler of the group in Italy, to recover an abandoned plant in Gaglianico, in the Biella area, converted into a cutting-edge plant for the processing of recycled PET. The factory is now a pole of excellence in innovation and environmental sustainability, capable of transforming 30,000 tons of PET a year into 100% recycled PET bottles. “We have been wanting to take this step for some time. Until 2021, Italian legislation allowed a quota of Recycled Pet in food packaging not exceeding 50%. When it was abolished, with our bottler partners, we reorganized the production cycle by meeting the need of an even rounder circularity. We are the first soft drink company to introduce a bottle with 100% recycled PET”, says Cristina Camilli, Director of Communications and Institutional Relations of Coca-Cola Italia.

Is there less plastic in the bottles?
“The decision to introduce bottles with 100% recycled plastic on the market is one of the commitments to make packaging more sustainable. We also invest more and more in eco-design to study new technologies that allow for optimization of packaging through so-called weight reduction. Over the years the weight of the bottles decreased by 45.7%, with a reduction in the PET used”.

How many times can the material be reused?
“Countless times and it does not lose its basic properties during the recycling processes. When it no longer has the characteristics suitable for food use, it can be used for other purposes, for example for clothing or furniture products. In this case, we come out of the virtuous cycle of the “bottle to bottle” which allows us to give each bottle a second life”.

And the caps?
“They can be recycled together with the bottle. From next year the legislation will come into force which requires producers to sell bottles with the cap joined by a tab to the ring on the neck of the bottle: the “tethered closures”. We introduced this novelty on last year on FuzeTea, ahead of the legislation, and we are now adopting it across all brands in the portfolio, with the aim of simplifying collection and recycling and reducing the loss and impact of plastic on the environment”.

Are Italians responsible recyclers?
“More than you imagine. In 2021, Italy recycled 73.3% of the packaging on the market, 56% of plastic, 68% of aluminum and 77% of glass. Good results, but we need to improve. Communication with consumers is important, on which we aim to raise awareness of the importance of recycling.We work with Coripet, the consortium recognized by the Ministry of the Environment, and have started a collaboration with the European Institute of Design to involve young designers towards sustainability Objective: to stimulate the new generations on the theme of the circular economy of PET and recycling, through a contest for the creation of a “Recycling Machine” with an innovative, aesthetic and experiential design”.