Coca-Cola Story: Coke Launches New Bottle Size For First Time In A Decade, Made From 100% Recycled Plastic

PHILADELPHIA – Coca-Cola is launching a new bottle size for the first time in a decade, but it’s what the bottle is made of that marks an even more notable first: 100% recycled plastic.

The new 13.2-ounce recyclable bottle that some customers will see on shelves this week is made entirely of other plastics, and it’s Coca-Cola’s latest move in several years to reduce plastic waste. Coca is also hoping the size will appeal to younger drinkers under the age of 25 who are looking for sustainable (and sometimes even shy of the company) packaging.

The new bottle will be available starting this month in select northeastern states, including New York and Connecticut, as well as California and Florida, before launching nationwide this summer. Coke describes the size as “easier to drink packaging,” and it will debut the company’s most popular sodas like Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero Sugar for a suggested retail price of $ 1.59.

“We listened to consumers and they told us they wanted something a little smaller and a little easier to consume,” Alpa Sutaria, general manager of sustainability at Coca-Cola, told CNN Business. “We took the opportunity to make a 100% recyclable plastic bottle.

The 13.2-ounce size is slightly larger than its aluminum can option and smaller than the typical 20-ounce bottle. Unique sizes like the 7.5 ounce mini may have generated strong sales.

SEE ALSO: Pepsi Unveils First 2L Bottle Redesign In Nearly 30 Years After Checking Hand Sizes

Meanwhile, the recycled plastic will also be featured in 20-ounce bottles of Coke and Coke Light in New York City, California and Texas this month, as well as for the company’s Dasani and Smartwater brands in select locations. In the coming months.

Sutaria said the development of the new packaging was a “labor of love and a great innovation” for Coca-Cola. The recycled plastic is cleaned, crushed, and turned into grain-like flakes before being made into a new bottle.

She added that the launch states were chosen because customers in those areas “are more sensitive to the challenges we have around sustainability issues.”
Coca-Cola is often criticized for its contribution to environmentally harmful plastic waste. Last year, the company was named the world’s No. 1 plastic polluter by the environmental company Break Free From Plastic. Its logos and branding have been found on 13,834 pieces of plastic in 51 countries, often discarded in public spaces like parks and beaches.

In 2018, Coke announced its ‘A World Without Waste’ initiative with the ultimate goal, by 2030, of collecting and recycling one bottle or can for every bottle sold. The new bottle, according to Sutaria, is a “big step in that direction”.

“We are determined to innovate and develop technologies to minimize our impact,” she said, adding that the company “is following its commitment with real action”.

SEE ALSO: Beverage Backlash – History of New Coke

Coca-Cola is not the only multinational conglomerate that aims to reduce its plastic pollution. Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, announced last year that it was spending $ 2 billion on similar initiatives. Pepsi recently launched a redesigned 2-liter bottle that uses 24% less material.

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