Coca-Cola is Making Good on Its Promise of More Sustainable Manufacturing

Brought to you by WBR Insights

The foundation for a sustainable business undoubtedly begins at the manufacturing stage. Whether through emissions, waste, or materials, industry is one of the biggest contributors towards pollution. Anything brands can do to mitigate their environmental impact should be seriously considered.

We are now beginning to see the effects of man-made climate change. From more extreme weather cycles to the depressing sight of plastic logged oceans and wildlife, the time to act is now, and industry must lead the way.

Thankfully Coca-Cola is already doing its bit to build sustainability into its manufacturing process.

A Promise

It started a year ago when Coca-Cola announced its "World Without Waste" initiative. In a first of its kind commitment, the soft drinks manufacturer promised to collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle it sells globally by 2030.

"Consumers around the world care about our planet," said President and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company, James Quincey at the time. "They want and expect companies like ours to be leaders and help make a litter-free world possible. Through our 'World Without Waste' vision, we are investing in our planet and in our packaging to help make the world's packaging problem a thing of the past."

So, one year on, what roads has Coca-Cola made in keeping this lofty promise?

A World Without Waste

Thankfully Coca-Cola has just released its 2018 sustainability report, which is complete with an entire section devoted to updating the World Without Waste project.

The most exciting progress can be found in Coca-Cola's acquisition of pioneering new recycling technology for PET plastics. The new technology is being incorporated into the existing manufacturing process at Coca-Cola and will enable the company to create a circular packaging economy. For example, the technology will allow colored plastic bottles, which are often excluded from household recycling collections, to be recycled into new packaging. All the while, Coca-Cola will be working towards a secondary goal of the World Without Waste project: to use at least 50% recycled materials in its packaging by 2030.

The technology, developed by Ioniqa, has been validated at the demonstration scale with Coca-Cola's value chain partners, and a brand-new industrial plant is presently under construction in The Netherlands and is due for commissioning later in 2019. Once up and running, the new facility will be able to get busy recycling PET for reuse by Coca-Cola.

"Partnering with The Coca-Cola Company is a further validation of our journey to launch this unique process for transforming hard-to-recycle PET waste into high-quality, food-grade material," said CEO and Founder of Ioniqa, Tonnis Hooghoudt. "The Ioniqa process allows for significant recovery and reuse of plastic materials that might otherwise not be recycled, while delivering quality, food-grade PET. The launch of our plant next year will be a step change in the transformation of hard-to-recycle PET plastic into a more widely usable recycled material, supporting the vision of Coca-Cola."

Final Thoughts

Innovative recycling technology aside, Coca-Cola is also introducing clean-up operations in the areas around its bottling plants. Industry naturally creates a lot of waste which can often be difficult to contain, so arranging special occasions on which Coca-Cola employees can take a day away from their regular roles and do some work in the community is a fantastic way to make sure things get cleaned up.

Coca-Cola is also experimenting with new materials to use in the manufacturing of its iconic bottles, including plant-based plastic alternatives and new thinner plastics which are far easier to crush and recycle than the present ones.

"We are still at a stage where many employees don't view clean-ups as our social responsibility," said a Coca-Cola representative in the report. "As a person involved in environmental matters, I want to get through to them that the 2030 Packaging Vision, which includes clean-up campaigns, is a business tool which can be used to make an appeal to customers who drink Coca-Cola products. As well as enhancing our value as a corporation which has the backing of society, I hope by instilling in employees a mentality of caring for the environment, they will incorporate it into manufacturing, generating a positive cycle which heightens the value of products."

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