Coca-Cola bottling site in Sidcup starts production of plastic bottles with attached caps to boost recycling
- The new design keeps the cap connected to the bottle after opening, making it easier to recycle the entire package
- Production has begun at CCEP’s site in Sidcup following the initial roll-out in Scotland and Edmonton last year
- Sidcup will produce 500ml plastic bottles of well-known brands including Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke and Fanta Zero, with plans to implement the new design across the entire range of Coca-Cola drinks sold in Great Britain
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) GB is extending the roll out of plastic bottles with attached caps with production starting at its manufacturing site in Sidcup, South-East London. The packaging development will help improve recycling rates and prevent waste across its entire portfolio of products.
The new design enables the cap to stay connected to the bottle after opening, making it easier to recycle the entire package and ensure no cap gets left behind, even when on the go. A message on the bottle cap also reminds customers of the change with the words: ‘I am attached to recycle together’.
CCEP began the changeover to attached caps on 1.5L bottles of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke and Fanta from its bottling plant in East Kilbride Scotland in May 2022, followed by its 500ml bottles manufactured at Edmonton, North London last September. Production of the bottles will now be rolled out from the business’ manufacturing site in Sidcup, South-East London and the rest of its sites in GB by the end of 2024.
The Sidcup site will manufacture 500ml bottles of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke and Fanta Zero with attached caps. When running at full capacity, Sidcup will be able to produce 250 million bottles each year to be sold to customers across London and the South East.
The move has been enabled by a £1.2million investment at Sidcup to enable the lines to produce the new packaging format.
It follows a £28million investment made in a new state-of-the-art high-speed canning line at Sidcup, which opened in June 2022. The line is capable of producing 2,000 cans per minute, elevating the site’s production capabilities and supporting the transition to sustainable packaging.
Rory Kerr, Site Director at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ manufacturing site in Sidcup, said: “We’re excited to start production of this innovative new packaging format, which will help reduce waste. This is an important milestone for our site, and follows significant investment in our production lines to prepare for this.
“Thank you to the team here at Sidcup who’ve played an important role in making this happen. Sidcup has played a key role in the business’ sustainability journey over the years. As well as helping to champion some of the latest packaging innovations, we’ve been using entirely renewable energy for over ten years, and have sent zero waste to landfill during this time too. I’m proud of the strides we’ve made so far, and this switch marks the next step in our sustainability journey.”
Stephen Moorhouse, Vice President and General Manager at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) GB, said: “In becoming the next of our sites to roll out plastic bottles with attached caps, Sidcup is playing a key role in our work in partnership with Coca-Cola, to help collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one we sell by 2030, on our journey towards a World Without Waste.
“This is a small change that we hope will have a big impact, ensuring that when consumers recycle our bottles, no cap gets left behind..”
