Coca-Cola opens world’s largest recycling plant

The 30-acre plant has been running on low volumes since mid-November 2008, but this January it will be expected to run at full capacity.

The facility is said to be the largest of its kind in the world and will produce about 100 million pounds of food-grade recycled PET plastic for reuse per year – the equivalent of about two billion 20oz plastic Coke bottles.

“We have set an ambitious goal to recycle all the plastic bottles we use in the US market,” said Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America. “Our investments in recycling infrastructure, coupled with our work on sustainable package design, will help us reach this target.”

Located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the plant is expected to create 100 jobs over the next five years.

A satellite media tour of the facility will be broadcast to news outlets around the world on 15 January 2009.