Coca-Cola sets ambitious recycling goals

The Coca-Cola Co. has announced a global goal of assisting in the recycling of 100 percent of its packaging by 2030. Coca-Cola says the goal, announced on Jan. 19, 2018, is part of its new packaging vision for a “World Without Waste.”

The program includes a multi-year investment designed to make packaging 100 percent recyclable.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, along with its bottling partners, indicates it is pursuing several goals, including:

• By 2030, for every bottle or can Coca-Cola sells globally, the company aims to help take one back so it has more than one life. To accomplish this the company states it is investing to support the collection of packaging throughout the industry, including bottles and cans from other companies.
• To achieve its collection goal, Coca-Cola indicates it is working toward making all its packaging 100 percent recyclable globally. By 2030, Coca-Cola also aims to make bottles with an average of 50 percent recycled content. (Most of its packaging is already recyclable, according to the company.)

Coca-Cola named several partners to help it achieve its goals, including: the London-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Initiative; the Ocean Conservancy/Trash Free Seas Alliance; and the Cascading Materials Vision and Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance of the World Wildlife Fund.

The beverage company also indicates it will launch efforts with new partners at the regional and local level and that it plans to work with its customers “to help motivate consumers to recycle more packaging.”