The Coca-Cola Company will make all of its 500mL sparkling beverage bottles – excluding the cap and label – in Canada with 100 percent recycled plastic by early 2024. The Coca-Cola Company says this marks the first time 500mL sparkling beverages will be sold in bottles made from 100 percent recycled plastic in Canada.
"With this transition, no virgin PET plastic will be used for our sparkling 500mL bottles under normal circumstances going forward in Canada," said Kurt Ritter, vice president and general manager of sustainability at Coca-Cola North America. "We hope that transitioning our 500mL sparkling portfolio to 100 percent recycled plastic will increase the amount of high-quality, food-grade, recycled plastic available in Canada and, ultimately, enable us to offer more of our brands in this sustainable format."
The Coca-Cola Company aims to use at least 50 percent recycled content in its packaging by 2030 and to reduce the use of virgin plastic. This transition to 100 percent recycled content is projected to save 7.6 million pounds of new plastic in 2024 alone, as well as reduce nearly 7,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, the equivalent of taking nearly 1,500 cars off the road for one year.
Bottles made with 100 percent recycled plastic create and sustain a circular economy for plastic packaging. Once the material (PET) is recycled, it is cleaned, sorted, and ground into small flakes that become raw material for more new bottles. To build awareness and encourage consumers to continue recycling bottles, all 100 percent recycled plastic bottles will feature "Recycle Me Again" messaging.
The new 100 percent recycled plastic bottles will be produced locally at the manufacturing facilities in Brampton, Ontario; Calgary, Alberta; Lachine, Quebec; and Richmond, British Columbia by Coke Canada Bottling.
Coca-Cola Canada is celebrating the launch – which follows last year's nationwide rollout of DASANI bottles made from 100 percent recycled plastic – with a pop-up experiential activation in Toronto, Ontario called The Replay Arcade.
Guests who bring in an empty plastic beverage bottle (all brands and sizes are welcome) to be recycled will receive 12 game tokens and a Coca-Cola beverage.
