Coke Goes Nationwide with rPET Bottles
The 20-oz bottles, with 100% recycled content, are now nationwide on US retail shelves, significantly reducing the use of non-recycled PET.
At a Glance
- US rollout of 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) 20-oz bottles is complete for Coca-Cola and Coke products.
- Coke sources rPET from suppliers including Republic Services, which opened its first Polymer Center in December 2023.
The Coca-Cola Co. has reached a noteworthy juncture in its quest to boost recycled-plastic use, recently completing the US rollout of 100% recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) 20-oz bottles for Coca-Cola Trademark products: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, and Coke flavors.
Messages on the bottle’s label — “I’m a 100% Recycled Bottle *Except cap and label” and “Recycle Me Again” — promote the package’s sustainability and invite consumer participation in bottle-to-bottle recycling.
Through the nationwide expansion, Coca-Cola estimates that by year’s end, it will have avoided the use of almost 80 million pounds of virgin PET in 2024, or almost 2 billion bottles. The effort will also reduce energy use and carbon emissions, based on the smaller carbon footprint of rPET vs. virgin.
Details on rPET sourcing with Republic Services
The company works with suppliers to source rPET, including Republic Services, which opened its first Polymer Center in December 2023 in Las Vegas.
In July 2024 alone, Coca-Cola sourced 500,000 lb of rPET flake from Republic Services’ Las Vegas center.
The nationwide expansion of 100% rPET 20-oz Trademark bottles — bottles carrying the Coca-Cola and Coke brand name — is the latest salvo in the company’s World Without Waste initiative, launched in 2018. The program aims to make all Coca-Cola packaging recyclable globally by 2025, and for the company to use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030.
In 2021, the Coca-Cola Trademark and Dasani brands made news with the rollout of 100% rPET 20-oz bottles in California, New York, and Texas.
In late 2023, the company expanded its use of the 100% rPET Trademark bottles to include Chicago, Atlanta, and the Pacific Northwest, thereby making the bottles available across almost half the United States.
The company is continuing to broaden rPET, which currently accounts for 100% of all individual 20-oz, 1-L, and 1.5-L Dasani bottles and 10-oz and 12-oz Dasani multipacks nationwide.
About the Author
You May Also Like