Coca-Cola company trials first paper bottle

Coca-Cola is set to trial paper drinks bottles as part of the company’s efforts to produce zero waste by 2030.

The news of the small trial comes after the Changing Markets Foundation last year named the drinks company as having the biggest plastic footprint on the planet, with 2.9 million metric tonnes of plastic packaging produced per year.

True to our #WorldWithoutWaste vision, we are bringing our #PaperBottle prototype to consumer trial in Hungary with our plant-based #Adez drink in the innovative packaging created with #Paboco.
Learn More 👉 https://t.co/PEbdCGZzvy @EU_ENV #EUGreenDeal #AdeZPaperBottle pic.twitter.com/VUSnfH9wWp

— Coca-Cola EU Dialogue (@CocaCola_EU) February 11, 2021

Testing of the new bottle will kick off in Hungary with a Coca-Cola product called AdeZ following its development as part of a partnership between Coca‑Cola and Danish startup The Paper Bottle Company (Paboco).

Daniela Zahariea, director of technical supply chain and innovation for Coca‑Cola Europe, described the trial as a ‘milestone for us in our quest to develop a paper bottle’.

Per The Independent, Zahariea continued, ‘People expect Coca‑Cola to develop and bring to market new, innovative and sustainable types of packaging. That’s why we are partnering with experts like Paboco, experimenting openly and conducting this first in-market trial.’

Announcing new 13.2oz Sip Sized™ and classic 20oz bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET).* For easier recycling, 13.2oz Sprite bottles are available in clear plastic. Available in select markets. https://t.co/a2VryNtMzT

*excludes cap and label pic.twitter.com/yT5ydZQgLI

— The Coca-Cola Co. (@CocaColaCo) February 9, 2021

Though the bottle is made with a strong paper exterior shell, it still uses a plastic cap and a thin plastic lining made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Coca-Cola has assured that the development will not stop there, explaining that the ultimate goal of the project is to develop a bottle without the plastic liner, which can be recycled as paper.

The company announced last Tuesday that it would start selling Coca-Cola brands in the 13.2-oz bottle made from recycled PET plastic this month in California, Florida and some states in the Northeast, with other fizzy drinks and waters to be sold in the recycled bottles this summer.

Coca-Cola has pledged to collect and recycle 100% of the bottles and cans it sells while producing zero waste by 2030.

In December, campaigning group Break Free From Plastic named Coca-Cola the world’s worst plastic polluter for a third year in a row after having found bottles from the company littering beaches, rivers, parks and communities across the globe.