Coca-Cola Great Britain announced that all its Glacéau Smartwater bottles will be made of 100 per cent recycled plastic by the end of the year, a change that will remove some 3,100 tonnes of virgin plastic from circulation.

Glacéau Smartwater is the third largest on-the-go bottled water brand in Great Britain – and it will soon be the brand using more recycled plastic in its packaging than any other water brand in Great Britain. By the end of this year, both its 600ml and 850ml bottles will be made from 100 per cent recycled PET plastic.

The change is part of Coca-Cola’s sustainable packaging strategy to double the amount of rPET used in all its plastic bottles in early 2020. This will mean that 23,000 tonnes of virgin plastic will no longer be used in its business in Great Britain from 2020.

In another step in this direction, Coca-Cola also announced that it will replace the current green Sprite bottle with a clear one in order to make it easier to recycle back into new drinks bottles. Sprite will also increase the amount of recycled PET it contains to 50 per cent next year.

“Using more recycled plastic is a critical element of our sustainable packaging strategy, as it reduces the amount of virgin material used in our packs,” said Jon Woods, general manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain. “None of this is easy and I am proud of the teams’ work.”

Coca-Cola launched its sustainable packaging strategy two years ago, which focuses on recovering all its packaging so that more can be recycled and none ends up as waste. This involves not only increasing the amount of recycled plastic in all its bottles, but also encouraging people to recycle their bottles through social media campaigns, advertising and including the message ‘Please recycle me’ on all plastic bottles.

Image credit: Filip Patock via Flickr