The world has a packaging problem and as the world’s biggest beverage company we recognise we have a responsibility to help solve it. We don’t want beverage containers in our oceans or landfill, we want them to be collected and recycled so they can have another life.
In 2018, The Coca-Cola Company set a number of robust World Without Waste goals to collect and recycle the equivalent of a bottle or can for every one the company sells by 2030; to make 100% of its packaging recyclable globally by 2025; and to use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030.
In Australia, 7 out of 10 of our bottles are made from 100 per cent recycled plastic. Meaning we avoid using around 10,000 tonnes of new plastic each year. This was the largest commitment to use recycled plastic in the Australian beverages industry. Our caps and labels are not currently made from recycled content but we are exploring technical options to help us address this.
Around the world we support locally appropriate collection and recycling solutions to help turn old packages into new ones, reduce our carbon footprint and keep plastic out of the environment. We have also joined the Plastics Pact – a network of local and regional (cross-border) initiatives which brings together key stakeholders to implement solutions towards a circular economy for plastic.
This includes in Australia where earlier this year we joined the Australia New Zealand Pacific Plastics Pact (ANZPAC) the first time the region has come together to look at tackling the causes of plastic pollution.