The whole package
Reduce, reuse, recycle is Coca‑Cola's packaging mantra
The Whole Package - Reduce, reuse, recycle is Coca‑Cola’s packaging mantra
Coca‑Cola is one of Ireland’s biggest users of packaging materials. Packaging is a crucial element of our business, as it helps keep our drinks fresh, hygienic and portable, but we’re constantly seeking improvements in this area to lower our impact on the environment.
At Coca‑Cola our packaging vision is zero waste. As we take steps towards this vision, we've made a commitment to:
Reduce
Every year we produce around 67 million of our iconic glass bottles in Ireland. You may not even have noticed the tiny changes to the shape and size of the bottle, but we've made it 20 per cent lighter.
Our plastic bottles have changed too, today weighing 22g and 22% lighter. We've also evolved our aluminium cans - the can 'wall' has been reduced to the thickness of a human hair, making it five per cent lighter than previous designs. Our design has been adopted across the drinks industry and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has estimated that the new can design will save 15,000 tonnes of aluminium across the EU each year, cutting CO2 emissions by around 78,000 tonnes.
Recycle
Currently nearly 94 per cent of our waste is recycled, with only 6 per cent going to landfill.
We're also encouraging Coca‑Cola consumers to recycle cans and bottles after enjoying our drinks. We work with REPAK to fund packaging recycling in the Republic of Ireland and partner with Wastepack in Northern Ireland.
Reuse
The majority of glass bottles placed into the market are returnable and reused in our production process. We're now looking at how we can increase the use of recycled material in our plastic bottle. We're already on our way to achieving our target of 25 per cent recycled plastic in all bottles across Europe by 2012.
