Turning old into new
A joint recycling venture with ECO Plastics that will more than double the UK’s ability to turn used drinks bottles into new ones
Coca‑Cola is one of Great Britain's biggest users of packaging materials. Our goal is to reduce the impact of our packaging, maximise our use of renewable, reusable and recyclable resources, and recover the equivalent of 100% of our packaging.
Our current Recycle Zones and RecycleBanks initiatives are helping us work towards this goal by making it easier for you, our consumers, to recycle when you’re on the go or at home.
Now our new joint venture with ECO Plastics (the UK’s leading plastic recycler) to develop a purpose-built recycling facility is set to further address recycling challenges in this country - by more than doubling the UK’s ability to recycle plastic for reuse in new bottles.
How will Coca‑Cola and ECO Plastics make a difference?
- Currently, Coca‑Cola sources recycled plastic from Europe, while around two-thirds of used Great Britain plastics packaging is exported for reprocessing
- Used British packaging will be recycled at this new recycling plant for re-use in packaging that will then be sold right here in Britain
- Around 35,000 tonnes of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles were reprocessed in Great Britain in 2010 - our new facility will increase this total to more than 75,000 tonnes (when it is fully operational)
- This will more than double the amount of high-quality recycled rPET (PET that is recycled to make food-grade, sustainable packaging) currently produced in Britain
- The facility will also supply Coca‑Cola with enough locally-sourced, high-quality recycled plastic to achieve our target of including 25% recycled plastic in all our plastic packaging by 2012
The deal is a first for the British drinks manufacturing industry. According to DEFRA (UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) Waste Minister, Lord Henley: "This investment builds on the public's enthusiasm for recycling and will make it easier for them to buy recycled plastic products such as the famous Coca‑Cola bottle.
It more than doubles the UK’s ability to turn used drinks bottles into new ones, which reduces the carbon footprint of every bottle made, compared with using virgin material. Coca‑Cola and ECO Plastics' efforts are an innovative blueprint for the future, and show how producers can take responsibility to step up to this challenge."
Facts about our packs:
- Our glass bottles are 100% recyclable and contain an average of 30% recycled materials
- Our plastic bottles are made from PET (polyethylene teraphthalate) and are 100% recyclable
- All our cans used in Great Britain are made from 100% recyclable aluminium and contain around 50% recycled aluminium
