![\"mini-bottle-Refreshing-Coca-Cola-introduces-100%-recycled-bottles-in-the-US-rapidnews-rapid-news-dailyrapidnews\"](\"https:\/\/dailyrapidnews.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/mini-bottle-Refreshing-Coca-Cola-introduces-100-recycled-bottles-in-the-US-rapidnews-rapid-news-dailyrapidnews.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCoca-Cola Co. is introducing 100% recycled plastic bottles in the U.S.\u2014a major shift in its sustainability strategy.<\/p>\n
The company responsible for\u00a0more plastic pollution\u00a0than any other, according to the Break Free From Plastic Campaign, once advocated for plant-based bottles that don\u2019t use fossil-fuel inputs. Its new focus, Coca-Cola says, is a substantial step in combating the plastic waste that clogs the world\u2019s waterways.<\/p>\n
The new recycled Coke bottles will reduce the company\u2019s\u00a0use of new plastic by more than 20% across its North American portfolio compared to 2018, according to the company.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Alpa Sutaria, Coca-Cola Co.\u2019s vice president and general manager of sustainability, said this is a change in the way the company reduces waste. \u201cThe reality is that that plant-based material, as it\u2019s turned into plastic, is really still a virgin plastic,\u201d she said. That\u2019s not something consumers will stand for anymore, Sutaria said, instead telling companies they want reusable and recycled options.<\/p>\n
Coca-Cola pledged in 2018 to make 100% of its packaging recyclable by 2025, and to use 50% recycled material in bottles and cans by 2030. The next year, it announced that Sweden would become the\u00a0first market\u00a0where all its products are sold in fully recycled plastic bottles.<\/p>\n
The company is introducing a new 13.2-ounce bottle made of 100% recycled PET, or rPET, in addition to making 20-ounce bottles made of rPET. Sutaria said the size change is partly a reaction to consumer feedback that 20-ounce bottles can be too much, but 12-ounce cans too little. The new bottles will roll out this month in the northeast, while they\u2019ll arrive in Florida and California and then nationwide later in the year.<\/p>\n
The new offering will cost $1.59 before tax, compared to a 20-ounce bottle that costs about $1.99. Sutaria said the cost of the rPET bottles will be the same as for regular plastic. The company is also moving Sprite to all-clear packing by the end of 2022 to make it easier for the bottles to be recycled.<\/p>\n
Coke\u2019s first moved to use plant-based bottles in 2009 was\u00a0pioneering, said Julia Attwood, leader of BloombergNEF\u2019s advanced materials research. Technological advances now allow for bottles that are 100% made of plant matter, up from about 30% when Coke first started using them.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s latest move away from plant-based plastic could spell a big change for the rest of the beverage industry, Attwood said. \u201cFor the champion of the bio-based bottle to essentially be abandoning it is a big sign for how the circular economy is going to move first,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While Attwood said that from an emissions standpoint, bio-based bottles are better than recycled, as the latter is still derived from oil. But\u00a0the carbon impact of 100% rPET bottles is much lower than regular plastic. \u201cYou basically cut the carbon footprint in more than half by using 100% recycled, and the cost isn\u2019t significantly higher,\u201d she\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Significant hurdles remain in the U.S. recycling market, however, including a wide range of different policies that exist at the state and local levels. Sutaria said companies need to find both local and national ways to implement recycling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Coca-Cola Co. is introducing 100% recycled plastic bottles in the U.S.\u2014a major shift in its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n