IT STARTS WITH A BOTTLE

In October 2023, a bottle from our bottling plant located outside Lisburn, Northern Ireland, landed on a shelf in a store somewhere in Ireland. While this happens millions of times a day, every day, all over Europe and the world, this one was different and marked an important milestone*.

That 500ml bottle (with the exception of the cap and label) was made from 100% recycled plastic* (in this case, we’re referring to PET plastic, that’s polyethylene terephthalate, the chemical name for the plastic used for our bottles).

Our goal is for 100% of our packaging to be recyclable globally by 2025 and to use at least 50% recycled material in our packaging by 2030.

From that moment on in October, when the Coca‑Cola bottle hit that shelf, every plastic bottle sold across the island of Ireland has now come to be made from 100% recycled plastic*.

Over one third of the plastic** used in our bottles in Europe*** is coming from recycled plastic, and we work with partners across business, government and civil society to create or support closed-loop systems that ensure our packages are collected and recycled or reused.

And what’s more, each bottle is recyclable, which means that bottles that can be collected, sorted and shredded, cleaned, melted and processed, have the chance to be made into something new. 

The move to using recycled plastic prepared us for the introduction of Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme – operated by Re-turn – which we are confident will give us high recovery rates of plastic bottles and cans, helping to reduce waste and carbon emissions.

The journey to achieve our goal of a “World Without Waste” is a long and challenging one. But we’re determined to get there.

And it starts with a bottle.

*References to 100% recycled plastic exclude cap and label – save some local exceptions

** Calculated based on the total volume of plastic used for our bottles, excluding label and cap

*** Europe defined as Europe Operating Unit and consisting of the following countries: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, UK