Plastic priority: Coca-Cola Australia and Amatil to use recycled plastic in 70% of all bottles by end-2019
“This is a joint initiative, and [encompasses] the Australian operations of both Amatil and Coca-Cola South Pacific,” a spokesman from Coca-Cola Australia told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“[By the end of 2019], 70% of the bottles we make in Australia will be manufactured from 100% recycled plastic.”
The scheme will include all bottle at or below 600ml across all Coca-Cola brands, including Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and Mount Franklin, in addition to 750ml bottles from Pump, the company’s local water brand.
“This is a big commitment to recycled plastic – the largest of its kind by a beverage company in Australia – and will significantly reduce the impact of our business on the environment,” added Coca-Cola Australia President Vamsi Mohan Thati.
“Coca-Cola’s goal is to keep plastic packaging out of our oceans and landfills and instead be used over and over again.”
The initiative is estimated to double Coca-Cola Amatil’s use of recycled plastic in beverage bottles, as well as reduce some 16,000 tonnes of virgin plastic yearly (after it is fully rolled out in 2020).
“We’ve heard the [consumers’ message] loud and clear, [thus have] taken this step to make recycled plastic the norm in more than two-thirds of our Australian beverage product range,” said Coca-Cola Amatil Managing Director of Australian Beverages Peter West.
“It’s the single largest increase in recycled plastic use in our history, and our strongest step forward in reducing packaging waste and the environmental impact of our operations.”
This latest development is part of Coca-Cola’s global ‘World Without Waste’ commitment, which involves the collection or recycling of a bottle or can for every one sold by 2030.
Coca-Cola’s sustainable intitiatives in Australia
Apart from its global pledge, under Coca-Cola Amatil the company has also committed to be part of Australia’s 2025 National Packaging Targets on recyclable and recycled materials.
The targets are: 1) Making 100% of all Australia’s packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 or earlier, 2) Recycling or composting 70% of Australia’s plastic packaging by 2025, 3) Including 30% average recycled content across all packaging by 2025, and 4) Phasing out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through design, innovation or introduction of alternatives.
According to West, Amatil is already using 100% recycled plastic for its Mount Franklin Still Pure Australian Spring Water bottles across the 350ml, 400ml, 500ml and 600ml variants.
“[Our] increased use of recycled plastic [also includes] initiatives such as the elimination of plastic straws and support for cost-effective well-run container deposit schemes,” he added.
