THE COCA-COLA Company has unveiled the world’s first fully recyclable PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant materials.
The new and improved PlantBottle uses patented technology that converts natural sugars found in plants into the ingredients for making PET plastic bottles. According to the Coca-Cola Company, ‘the packaging looks, functions and recycles like traditional PET but has a lighter footprint on the planet and its scarce resources.’
Coca-Cola hopes to use the technology for a variety of packaging sizes and across water, sparkling, juice and tea beverage brands.
Today, the company uses sugarcane and waste from the sugarcane manufacturing process to create PlantBottle packaging. Both materials meet the Coca-Cola Company’s established sustainability criteria used to identify plant-based ingredients for PlantBottle material. These include demonstrating improved environmental and social performance as well as avoiding negative impacts on food security.
Since the 2009 launch, the Coca-Cola Company has distributed more than 35 billion bottles in nearly 40 countries using its current version of PlantBottle packaging which is made from up to 30% plant-based materials. It is estimated the use of PlantBottle packaging since launch has helped save the equivalent annual emissions of more than 315,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.