NORTH AMERICA – Beverage major, Coca-Cola, is shifting its Dasani branded water bottles to 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) types across the US and Canada.
The company said the majority of Dasani bottles that are of 20-oz., 1.5-liter singles to 10-oz. and 12-oz. multipacks in the US, will be offered in 100% recycled plastic, as from this summer while in Canada, this will cover all Dasani bottles.
The shift is said to support both Dasani’s pledge to remove the equivalent of 2 billion virgin plastic bottles from production by 2027 compared to 2021 levels and the company’s World Without a Waste goal.
The company is aiming at using at least 50% recycled material in its bottles and cans by 2030.
Coca-Cola through the brand’s transition to 100% recycled plastic is projecting to save more than 20 million pounds of new plastic, compared to 2019, and cut more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2023 alone.
According to the multinational beverage company, the goal will be achieved through creating bottles from recycled plastic that use less energy than virgin PET.
Meanwhile, Dasani’s caps are also being made from recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic as a sustainability move.
The caps, first of their kind in the beverage industry, are made of 30% recycled content and will be featured on 20-oz., half-liter, and 1-liter PET bottles of Dasani in the US.
Chris Vallette, SVP, Technical Innovation and Stewardship at TCCC, explained that the caps are 30% made from recycled content due to a lack of enough recycled material available to make the cap and label with 100% recycled material.
Furthermore, labels on the bottles which will use the new caps will also be made out of oriented polypropylene.
The rollout of the 100% rPET bottle follows a successful launch of 100% rPET bottles in New York, California, and Texas, alongside Coca-Cola Trademark 20-oz bottles.
The launch, as highlighted by Vallette, helped the Coca-Cola system identify the best-quality sources of rPET and fine-tune production processes needed to make 100% recycled plastic bottles.
It also helped drive consumer awareness through the bold, on-pack “100% Recycled Bottle” and “Recycle Me Again” calls to action.
In addition, Vallette stated that the company was able to understand how much the 100% recycled PET message truly resonates with its customers and consumers, particularly Dasani fans whose sustainability expectations are especially high.
This move succeeds the shift in all of sprite’s brand plastic PET packaging from the signature green color to clear in the US, as of August.
Although green PET is recyclable, the recycled material is more often converted into single-use items like clothing and carpeting rather than new PET bottles.
Coca-Cola emphasized that this transition will help increase the availability of food-grade plastic.
Taking note, Sprite has already transitioned to clear plastic in a number of European and Asian markets.
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