The Coca-Cola Company has produced what it says are sample PET bottles of discarded plastics obtained from the oceans.
According to the company, a sample of 300 PET bottles were produced using 25% recycled plastic collected from beaches in Spain, Portugal and the Mediterranean.
The soft drinks giant said that the bottles are the result of a partnership it has with Ioniqa Technologies, a clean-teach spinoff from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, Indorama Ventures and Mares Circulares (Circular Seas).
The recovered plastic bottles were put under a process called ‘enhanced recycling’, which enables lower-grade plastic to be stripped of impurities and brought back to ‘virgin grade’ so it can once again be used for food and drink packaging.
“This means that lower-grade plastics that were often destined for incineration or landfill can now be given a new life,” stated Coca-Cola.
“It also means more materials are available to make recycled content, reducing the amount of virgin PET needed from fossil fuels, and resulting in a lower carbon footprint.”
While only a small quantity of 300 bottles have been produced, the company says it plans to introduce it at commercial scale using waste streams from existing recyclers, including plastics that were previously unrecyclable and lower-quality recyclables.
Coca-Cola plans to begin introducing the bottles in its packaging starting in 2020.
“Too many of the world’s finite resources are currently discarded as waste,” said Tim Brett, President for Coca-Cola Western Europe.
“We know we need to do more to correct this. There is a valuable role for packaging, but it must always be collected, recycled and reused.
“Our aim, working in partnership, is to see the term “single-use plastic” become redundant, both in our business and beyond, as all of our plastic – and indeed all of our packaging – is delivered within a closed-loop”.
