Coca-Cola in Western Europe today takes another important step on its journey to eliminating new virgin oil-based plastic as Coca-Cola in the Netherlands and Coca-Cola in Norway announce their transition to plastic bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET). Following the announcement (December 2019) that Coca-Cola in Sweden would become the first market to switch to 100% rPET, Coca-Cola in the Netherlands has announced that from October 2020 it will transition all its locally produced small plastic bottles to 100% rPET, including iconic brands such as Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Large plastic bottles will follow in 2021, making it the second market to transition its locally produced portfolio to 100% rPET. The switch to 100% rPET in the Netherlands will eliminate the use of more than 10,000 tonnes of new virgin oil-based plastic, amounting to a 21% reduction in the carbon footprint of its plastic bottles per year compared to the rPET level before the transition, when the portfolio in the Netherlands already consisted of more than 50% recycled PET. Additionally, during the first half of 2021, Coca-Cola in Norway will transition to 100% rPET for all plastic bottles that it produces locally. This transition will remove around 4,300 tonnes of new virgin oil-based plastic a year, and will deliver a 28% reduction in the carbon footprint of its plastic bottles per year compared with the rPET level before the switch when the portfolio in Norway was approximately 25% rPET. Both Coca-Cola in the Netherlands and Coca-Cola in Norway will be the first companies in their respective countries to move their entire portfolio of locally produced plastic bottles to 100% rPET. This move supports Coca-Cola’s ambition in Western Europe to accelerate towards the use of 100% rPET and the elimination of new virgin oil-based PET in all of its bottles within the next decade.
