Coca-Cola India announced the launch of Coca-Cola in 100% recycled plastic (rPET) bottles in its smaller pack sizes, including 250 ml and 750 ml bottles.

The new recycled plastic bottles are manufactured by Coca-Colabottling partners Moon Beverages Ltd., and SLMG Beverages Ltd., and are made from 100% food-grade rPET, excluding caps and labels. The bottles also a carry a “Recycle Me Again” call to action and a “100% recycled PET bottle” display aimed at driving consumer awareness.

The announcement follows the launch in June of Coca-Cola India’s 100% recycled one-liter bottle for its packaged drinking water brand, Kinley.

The Coca-Cola Company now offers 100% recycled plastic bottles in over 40 markets, bringing it closer to its World Without Waste goal of making bottles with 50% recycled content by 2030. Announced in 2018, the sustainable packaging platform also includes a goal to collect and recycle the equivalent of a bottle or can for every one the company sells globally by 2030, and to make 100% of its packaging recyclable by 2025.

Enrique Ackermann, Vice President, Technical and Innovation, Coca-Cola India, and Southwest Asia, said:

“We seek to drive a circular economy for our packaging in order to reduce waste and carbon emissions. We’re working to increase recycled content in our packaging, expand our use of refillable bottles, and to collect packaging for recycling through our World Without Waste initiative. We also do research for new solutions for packaging. This expansion by Moon Beverages and SLMG Beverages underscores Coca-Cola India’s steadfast commitment to sustainability and its dedication to forging a more sustainable future.”

Coca-Cola offers drop-off points or Reverse Vending Machines to make it easier for consumers to recycle bottles. Earlier this year, Coca-Cola India launched a ‘Return and Recycle’ initiative with Zepto that focuses on gathering PET bottles directly from consumers. This program helps to establish an organized process of collecting PET bottles with 100% traceability. Specifically for India, Coca-Cola introduced ASSP (Affordable Small Sparkling Pack) for the 250 ml PET bottle which is used to reduce plastic usage in PET production for sparkling products by up to 40 percent.  

Sanjeev Agarwal, Chairman of Moon Beverages  said:

“PET plastic bottles have value beyond their first life. Our new bottles made with food-grade rPET are recyclable and can become another bottle giving it another life. Recycled PET is a big move in the right direction to embrace plastic circularity in India.”