Coca-Cola Northeast rolls out rPET bottles

Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, an independent and locally operated Coca-Cola bottler headquartered in Bedford, New Hampshire, has replaced a selection of its 20-ounce plastic products in its beverage portfolio with 100 percent recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), excluding the cap and the label.

The rPET bottles in the market currently include: 20-ounce bottles of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Cherry Coke, Cherry Coke Zero, Vanilla Coke, Cherry Vanilla Coke and Caffeine Free Diet Coke throughout New England and upstate New York, and 20-ounce and 1-liter Dasani bottles nationwide.

According to Coca-Cola Northeast, this move will eliminate an estimated 6.5 million pounds of virgin plastic annually.

“At Coke Northeast, we recognize that we have a responsibility to help solve the global plastic packaging waste crisis,” says Susannah Smith, senior director of Public Affairs & Communications. “As a leader in the beverage industry, we need to act as a model for responsible behavior with regard to sustainability and to help reduce plastic waste globally.”

The introduction of 100 percent rPET bottles is in line with the company’s goal of reducing virgin plastic packaging, decreasing carbon emissions and accelerating progress toward the Coca-Cola Co. World Without Waste initiative.

Coca-Cola Co. and its network of bottlers developed the World Without Waste program “to address the environmental issues created by packaging.”

The goals include:

• making 100 percent of its packaging recyclable globally by 2025 and to use at least 50 percent recycled material in its packaging by 2030;
• reducing Coca-Cola’s use of virgin plastics derived from nonrenewable resources by a cumulative 3 million metric tons by 2025;
• collecting and recycling the equivalent of one bottle or can for each one sold by 2030; and
• participating in partnerships that bring people, businesses and industries together to support a healthy, debris-free environment.

The new bottles are available for purchase throughout the Northeast and can be found anywhere Coke products can be purchased.