Coca-Cola announces upgrade to the iconic design its bottles have had for decades — here's what's changing
Packaging World reports that The Coca-Cola Company, the world's biggest soft-drink company, has adopted recycled plastic for all 20-ounce bottles of its trademark products, including Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero. It's the first sparkling-beverage brand in the U.S. to take this step.
Through the initiative, Coca-Cola expects to save 80 million pounds of new plastic use — or the equivalent of roughly 2 billion bottles.
All this said, plastic can generally only be recycled one or two times before it becomes too weak, and Coca-Cola is the largest producer of branded plastic waste in the world. Glass bottles and aluminum cans are still far more environmentally friendly than recycled plastic bottles.
The new 20-ounce bottles were initially launched in 2021 across California, New York, and Texas. Dasani, the water brand owned by Coca-Cola, has had 100% recycled bottles since 2022 in its 20-ounce, 1-liter, and 1.5-liter sizes.
"By properly recycling bottles and cans, we can help sustain a circular economy where we can source more recycled material to use in future packaging," the company says.
Coca-Cola touts this as being a key part of its "World Without Waste" strategy. But as is the case with many large companies, the reality of Coca-Cola's carbon footprint doesn't always align with what it says publicly.
The soft-drink behemoth previously announced that it would make one-quarter of its packaging reusable by 2030, but it appears to have quietly pulled that pledge. Meanwhile, a 2024 French study found that opening a plastic drink bottle, such as a liter bottle of Coca-Cola, can leach microplastic particles into your drink.
The company also came under fire for its 2024 Christmas television ad, which was made using artificial intelligence. AI is remarkably energy-intensive — generating 1,000 images emits the same amount of carbon dioxide as driving more than four miles in a gas-powered car.
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On the other hand, one of Coca-Cola's bottling plants in India and a production facility in the United Arab Emirates are both getting major solar-energy upgrades.
If you have a tough time following which companies are taking the right steps with their environmental practices, you're not alone. That's why we put together this guide, showing eco-friendly initiatives by large brands.
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