Coca-Cola GB & Coca-Cola European Partners packaging update
Sustainable Packaging Strategy Ambition: To recover all of our packaging so that more is recycled and none ends up as litter
A year on from launching a dedicated Sustainable Packaging Strategy for Great Britain, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) and Coca-Cola Great Britain (CCGB) now reinforce these commitments by sharing some progress highlights and revealing their vision for a well-designed Deposit Return Scheme.
We will continue to innovate to ensure our packaging is as sustainable as possible
All large PET bottles, including Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta, will start to move to 40% rPET this year – a key development to transitioning the whole PET portfolio to 50% rPET
• A founding member of WRAP’s UK Plastics Pact, a collaborative industry initiative supporting the circular economy
• A signatory for Operation Clean Sweep - taking actions to prevent plastic nurdles entering the environment, and national sponsor of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean 2018, the nation’s biggest ever single clean-up event
We will use our brands to encourage consumers to recycle
• We are replacing the branding on our bottle closures with messages encouraging consumers to recycle. The closures are already on Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero sugar 500ml bottles and will appear across the rest of the Coca-Cola portfolio by the end of 2018, creating over 900 million opportunities to see these new recycling messages each year
• The biggest-ever recycling focused multi-media advertising campaign, ‘Love Story’, reached 27 million consumers
• Recycling messaging included on TV and digital advertising end-frames
We will champion new ways to improve the recovery and recycling of packaging
• CCEP and CCGB have set out their vision for a well-designed Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in GB, with eleven clearly defined principles based on detailed discussion with suppliers and customers, industry and recyclers
• Part of working groups with industry and government, including DEFRA, for discussion on key packaging policy and to help re-design the current Producer Responsibility System
Nick Brown, Head of Sustainability at CCEP, comments: “As a business we want to keep challenging ourselves to ensure we are part of the solution on packaging, whether it is setting ourselves ambitious targets or joining key government working groups. Initiatives like our investment in bottle recycling in GB and our commitment to keep increasing recycled material in our packs are key to ensuring more packaging is collected and reprocessed. We believe we are at a crucial moment in time, with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create real change for packaging recovery systems in GB. We have been clear on our support for a well-designed Deposit Return Scheme in Great Britain for some time – however with a DRS consultation now open in Scotland and one planned for England later on this year, it is crucial that all parties come together to develop this collaboratively. This is why we’ve revealed our vision on what is required for a practical, joined up DRS system.”
Liz Lowe, GB Sustainability Manager at Coca-Cola Great Britain, said: “Having some of the largest, most visible brands in the world presents a unique opportunity to reach and inspire a wide number of people. Over the past year we’ve redirected a significant amount of marketing investment into recycling messaging, and into making recycling as easy as possible with really visible on-pack messaging.”
The Packaging Strategy forms part of a wider Sustainability Action Plan launched in November 2017 by Coca-Cola and CCEP for the whole of Western Europe - This is Forward has multiple commitments across: Drinks, Water, Climate, Packaging, Society and Supply Chain.
Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) and Coca-Cola Great Britain (CCGB): ‘11 Key Principles’ for a well-designed Deposit Return Scheme
1. Easy for public to recycle and no penalty for doing the right thing (i.e. good provision of return points and deposit not subject to VAT)
2. Good financial management and fraud control
3. A common approach covering the whole of GB
4. Run by one not-for-profit management company
5. Retailers, machine suppliers and hauliers are paid for the services they provide
6. Scheme costs are covered by the sale of collected materials, deposits which aren’t redeemed by the public and a fee on producers and retailers
7. The management company designs and runs the scheme to achieve targets agreed with Government, including responsibility for determining the number and type of collection points, administration and fraud control.
8. The management company is run by the producers and retailers who have an obligation to fund the scheme
9. Scheme is flexible enough to work in different retail outlets, specific exemption criteria for small stores and those with sensitive hygiene or security requirements
10. Underpinned by legislation so all parties engage in the same scheme
11. Sits alongside other policy initiatives such as changes to the current producer responsibility schemes and other proposed taxes
