Coca Cola Goes Sustainable With Plastic Packaging Waste
The beverage company has recently trialed recycled marine plastic packaging waste, proving that plastic has an important role to play in a sustainable society.
As businesses around the world prepare to dump plastic in favor of sustainable packaging solutions, Coca Cola Co. is carving its own path to innovation.
The beverage manufacturer has produced and released 300 bottles, made with 25% recycled PET plastic plucked and fished from waterways and beaches.
The company partnered with Ioniqa Technologies, Indorama Ventures and Circular Seas for the project.
Circular Seas helped with the cleanup and collection of the plastic waste, Ioniqa provided depolymerization technology for recycling, while Indorama Ventures supplied resin for manufacturing.
“This is just a proof of concept of what can be achieved with enhanced recycling technology and how plastic can be integrated into a sustainable society. While we now know this can be done, there is much work needed before we can reproduce this at a commercial level.”
Plastic waste, especially marine plastic waste, has been a subject of major interest among environmentalists and businesses alike. Labeled an ocean killer, it presents serious threats for the existence of marine life and the environment in general.
Coca Cola’s initiative to reuse marine plastic for beverage packaging is a promising development and could help change the perception people have about plastic.
There is this common consensus among the masses that plastic packaging can never be sustainable, which is—of course—wrong to begin with.
With the advent of plastics like PET and HDPE, we have recycling concerns surrounding the use of plastic packaging pretty much already addressed. The only question mark that remains over its use is its poor biodegradability.
Plastic takes an average of 450 years to degrade naturally, while some plastics never degrade at all. This means plastic can remain in the environment for years and keep travelling in the food chain.
But let’s not forget, other packaging materials that are considered more environmentally friendly, such as glass, also take thousands of years to decompose.
The reason they are preferred to plastic is that they can be sourced responsibly while with plastic that’s difficult to achieve.
However, with Coca Cola proving that plastic may not have to sit forever on the beaches and can be reused to maximum effect, we’re at the cusp of realizing a new era in sustainable packaging.
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