COCA‑COLA IN EUROPE SIGNS CIRCULAR PLASTICS ALLIANCE DECLARATION
The Coca‑Cola Company and its two leading European bottling partners – Coca‑Cola European Partners and Coca‑Cola Hellenic Bottling Company – have jointly signed the European Commission’s Circular Plastics Alliance declaration, underlining their commitment to using more recycled packaging across Europe. In doing so, they join other private and public sector partners in working to achieve the European Commission’s aim of having 10 million tons of recycled plastics in use in Europe by 2025.
Last year, the three companies submitted a joint pledge in support of the EU plastics strategy that outlines a goal to use an average of 45% rPET across our portfolio by 2025, equating to more than 160,000 metric tonnes of recycled PET. Coca‑Cola shares the vision of the Circular Plastics Alliance and supports the Commission’s collaborative, cross-sector approach, including efforts to further improve the collection and sorting of plastics, as well as to advance the R&D and investments needed to attain this objective.
The companies have already made commitments to evolve several brands to 100% recycled plastics by 2020. Romerquelle, Deep RiverRock, Valser and Chaudfontaine water brands are already available in bottles made entirely from rPET, and brands including GLACEAU Smartwater and Honest will be available in 100% recycled plastics across Western Europe over the next 12 months.
In addition, The Coca‑Cola Company and its bottling operations in Europe have taken further steps to improve the sustainability of packaging, including light-weighting programs that have reduced the amount of packaging required by up to 27%, introducing renewable materials such as PlantBottle™ and building partnerships to help overcome technical barriers to recyclability.
Additionally, several community and consumer awareness programs are being introduced including the creation of the world’s first Zero Waste City in Thessaloniki, Greece, Mares Circulares in Spain and Portugal, and Coca‑Cola is working with a network of partners to advance recycling technology to meet its goals. To help tackle existing packaging waste, The Coca‑Cola Company works with partners including The Ocean Conservancy/Trash Free Seas Alliance, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (New Plastics Economy initiative) to support a debris-free environment.
Coca‑Cola has previously set out a global ambition to help create a World Without Waste, which includes collecting and recycling a bottle or can for each one it produces by 2030. Additional goals include ensuring packaging contains 50% recycled content by 2030 and ensuring 100% of packaging is recyclable globally by 2025.
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