Coca‑Cola Great Britain (CCGB) has announced it will introduce new, attached caps to its plastic bottles, making it easier to recycle the entire package and ensure no cap gets left behind.
From today, consumers will start to see new caps attached to 1.5L bottles of Fanta, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke, with the switch set to be completed for all plastic bottles across CCGB’s range of brands by early 2024.
All of Coca‑Cola’s bottles, including the caps, have been 100% recyclable for many years but not all are being recycled. Bottle caps are often discarded and littered. The new design means that the cap stays connected to the bottle after opening, reducing the potential for it to be littered while still giving consumers a positive drinking experience.
Coca‑Cola is the first major soft drinks company to announce the switch across its entire range in Great Britain. Coca‑Cola has announced major initiatives both globally and locally to help create a “circular economy” for plastic, which are key to Coca‑Cola’s ambition to create a World Without Waste.
Last year the company announced that it had reached its target of using 100% recycled plastic – excluding caps and labels – in all its 500ml or smaller bottles sold in Great Britain ahead of schedule, helping to save around 29,000 tonnes of plastic per year.
Jon Woods, General Manager at Coca‑Cola Great Britain, said: “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. It’s one of many steps we’re taking towards our global commitment to help collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one that we sell by 2025, on our journey towards a World Without Waste.
As the world’s biggest drinks company, we recognise that we have a leading role to play in pushing innovation and design to produce more high-quality recycled plastic which can be converted into new bottles.”
Jo Churchill, Resources and Waste Minister: “More businesses are finding innovative ways to tackle harmful plastic pollution and Coca‑Cola’s new design will make it easier for people to recycle and help reduce litter.
The Government is committed to boosting recycling across the country with our new Environment Act creating a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, making manufacturers more responsible for their packaging, and putting in place consistent recycling collections.”
Adam Herriott, Sector Specialist, WRAP “This great move from Coca‑Cola Great Britain supports the on-going work with the UK Plastics Pact in trying to ensure that as much plastic packaging is captured and recycled as possible. In 2020 we saw the amount of plastic packaging being recycled increase from 44% to 52%. The small changes are what adds up to make a big difference and when it comes to recycling, the higher quality of the material the better. We look forward to seeing more innovations in this area”.
