ROMANIA – Coca-Cola HBC has opened a new in-house recycled plastic (rPET) production facility in Romania, following an €11 million (US$11.72 million) investment.
The move makes Romania the first market within the group to combine its “three key pillars of circularity”: the use of 100% recycled bottles across the portfolio, an in-house rPET production facility, and a soon-to-be-launched deposit return scheme.
Coca-Cola HBC Romania will also be the first beverage producer in the Romanian market to produce rPET in-house, and it is the third rPET decontamination facility in operation across Coca-Cola HBC’s markets.
It is reported that 22% of the PET used across Coca-Cola HBC’s EU and Swiss markets in 2022 was recycled.
A combination of its progress in Romania and the transition to using recycled bottles in its Swiss, Austrian, Italian, Irish, and Northern Irish markets, the company claims that it is on track to achieve 50% rPET utilization by the end of 2023, which is ahead of its 2025 deadline.
The company also supports the implementation of Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) in many of its markets. These schemes typically achieve a 90% collection rate for bottles and cans.
Five DRS are currently active across Coca-Cola HBC markets, and an additional six will be implemented by the end of 2025. Romania’s scheme is set to be introduced in December.
Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca-Cola HBC, stated, “At Coca-Cola HBC, our purpose is to ‘Open Up Moments that Refresh us All,’ and this means that, beyond the functional refreshment that we provide, we strive to refresh our communities and the environment through the work that we do.
“We are working to producing and delivering our beverages in a more sustainable manner, using packaging that can be reused or repurposed. Romania serves as an excellent illustration of our collaborative efforts with stakeholders and the industry at large to establish a circular economy for packaging.”
Recently, Coca-Cola Philippines introduced its own line of 100% rPET bottles, which includes caps and labels, for its Coca-Cola Original and Wilkins Pure brands.
A new sustainable packaging platform is being launched, aiming to enhance consumer education in the battle against plastic waste.
Planned rollout in Canada
The company has also announced plans to launch 100% recycled plastic bottles throughout Canada.
From early 2024, all 500ml sparkling beverage bottles offered by the company will be made of 100% recycled plastic, excluding the caps and labels of these bottles.
The new bottles will be manufactured by the family-owned Canadian business, Coke Canada Bottling, at its facilities in Brampton, Ontario; Calgary, Alberta; Lachine, Quebec; and Richmond, British Columbia.
The launch of these 100% recycled plastic bottles follows Coca-Cola Canada’s introduction of its 100% recycled plastic DASANI bottles in the country last year.
Coca-Cola North America’s Vice President and General Manager of Sustainability, Kurt Ritter, stated, “We aim to increase the availability of high-quality, food-grade, recycled plastic in Canada by transitioning our 500ml sparkling portfolio to 100% recycled plastic. Ultimately, this will allow us to offer more of our brands in a sustainable format.”
The transition to 100% recycled plastic bottles is in line with the company’s ‘World Without Waste’ target, which seeks to leverage at least 50% recycled content in its packaging by 2030 and to significantly reduce virgin plastic usage.
