Coca-Cola creates sample bottles from recycled marine plastics

The Coca-Cola Company has unveiled its first sample bottles made using recovered and recycled marine plastics.

Through a partnership between Ioniqa Technologies, Indorama Ventures, Mares Circulares (Circular Seas) and The Coca-Cola Company, about 300 sample bottles have been made using 25% recycled marine plastic retrieved from the Mediterranean Sea and beaches.

According to Coca-Cola, the sample is the first plastic bottle made using marine plastic that has been successfully recycled for food and drink packaging.

Enhanced recycling technologies use innovative processes that break down the components of plastic and strip out impurities in lower grade recyclables so they can be rebuilt as good as new.

This means that lower grade plastics often destined for incineration or landfill can now be given a new life. It also means more materials are available to make recycled content, reducing the amount of virgin PET needed from fossil fuels.

“Enhanced recycling technologies are enormously exciting, not just for us but for industry and society at large,” said Bruno van Gompel, technical and supply chain director, Coca-Cola in Western Europe.

“They accelerate the prospect of a closed-loop economy for plastic, which is why we are investing behind them. As these begin to scale, we will see all kinds of used plastics returned, as good as new, not just once but again and again, diverting waste streams from incineration and landfill.”

He added: “This bottle is testament to what can be achieved through partnership and investment in revolutionary new technologies. In bringing together partners from across our supply chain, from a community clean-up initiative in Spain and Portugal to an investment in technological innovation in the Netherlands, we have been able, for the first time, to bring damaged marine plastic back to food-grade material with which we can make new bottles.”

Tonnis Hooghoudt, CEO of Ioniqa Technologies, said: “The impact of enhanced recycling will be felt on a global scale: by working with Coca-Cola and Indorama to produce this bottle, we aim to show what this technology can deliver.

“Our new plant is now operational and we are bringing this technology to scale. In doing so, we aim to eliminate the concept of single-use plastic and plastic waste altogether.”