Sample Packaging Demonstrates Possibilities for
Transformational Potential in Recycling
Today, The Coca-Cola Company unveiled its first-ever sample
bottles made using recovered and recycled marine plastics,
demonstrating that, one day, even ocean debris could be used in
recycled packaging for food or drinks.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191003005139/en/
This sample Coca-Cola bottle is the
first-ever plastic bottle made using marine plastic that has been
successfully recycled for food and drink packaging. (Photo:
Business Wire)
Through a partnership between Ioniqa Technologies, Indorama
Ventures, Mares Circulares (Circular Seas) and The Coca-Cola
Company, about 300 sample bottles were made using 25% recycled
marine plastic1 retrieved from the Mediterranean Sea and beaches.
The bottles were designed and developed to show the
transformational potential of revolutionary enhanced recycling
technologies, which can recycle previously used plastics of any
quality back to high-quality plastic that can be used for food or
beverage packaging. The sample bottle is the first-ever plastic
bottle made using marine plastic that has been successfully
recycled for food and drink packaging.
Enhanced recycling technologies use innovative processes that
break down the components of plastic and strip out impurities in
lower-grade recyclables so they can be rebuilt as good as new. This
means that lower grade plastics often destined for incineration or
landfill can now be given a new life. It also means more materials
are available to make recycled content, reducing the amount of
virgin PET needed from fossil fuels, and resulting in a lower
carbon footprint.
The marine plastic bottle has been developed as proof of concept
for what the technology may achieve in time. In the immediate term,
enhanced recycling will be introduced at commercial scale using
waste from existing recyclers, including previously unrecyclable
plastics and lower-quality recyclables. From 2020, Coca-Cola plans
to roll out this enhanced recycled content in some of its
bottles.
Bruno van Gompel, Technical and Supply Chain Director,
Coca-Cola in Western Europe, said: “Enhanced recycling
technologies are enormously exciting, not just for us but for
industry and society at large. They accelerate the prospect of a
closed loop economy for plastic, which is why we are investing
behind them. As these begin to scale, we will see all kinds of used
plastics returned, as good as new, not just once but again and
again, diverting waste streams from incineration and landfill.”
Tonnis Hooghoudt, CEO of Ioniqa Technologies,
said: “The impact of enhanced recycling will be felt on
a global scale: by working with Coca-Cola and Indorama to produce
this bottle, we aim to show what this technology can deliver. Our
new plant is now operational and we are bringing this technology to
scale. In doing so, we aim to eliminate the concept of single-use
plastic and plastic waste altogether.”
Yash Lohia, Chief Recycling Officer of Indorama’s Recycling
Business Group and Board Member of Indorama Ventures, said: “By
collaborating with new ventures in enhanced recycling technologies,
we have the opportunity to reshape and redefine the future of
plastic packaging, ensuring that nothing goes to waste. PET of any
quality can now be recycled and upcycled, at the same time
resulting in a lower carbon footprint for packaging.”
Van Gompel concluded: “This bottle is testament to what
can be achieved, through partnership and investment in
revolutionary new technologies. In bringing together partners from
across our supply chain, from a community cleanup initiative in
Spain and Portugal to an investment in technological innovation in
the Netherlands, we have been able, for the first time, to bring
damaged marine plastic back to food-grade material with which we
can make new bottles.”
Coca-Cola has set out clear goals to work toward a World Without
Waste, including that it will collect a bottle or can for every one
it sells by 2030. To find out more about The Coca-Cola Company’s
wider goals and actions on packaging waste, please visit:
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/world-without-waste.
Key partnerships in the development of the sample bottles
containing recovered and recycled marine plastic:
- Coastal cleanups: The marine plastic contained in
the bottles was collected and recovered by volunteers who
participated in 84 beach cleanups in Spain and Portugal and
fishermen in 12 ports across the Mediterranean Sea, as part of the
Mares Circulares or “Circular Seas” project. Mares Circulares,
partially funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation, is a collaboration
between the Coca-Cola system in Iberia, Spain's Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries, Food & the Environment and three
leading non-profit organizations — Chelonia Association, Ecomar
Foundation and Vertidos Cero Association.
- Technological innovation: In January 2019,
Coca-Cola extended a loan to Ioniqa Technologies in the Netherlands
to help scale its proprietary enhanced recycling technology. The
marine litter collected through Mares Circulares was recycled by
Ioniqa Technologies, using enhanced recycling processes, back into
the building blocks needed to make food-grade PET.
- Industry collaboration: Indorama Ventures, one of
Coca-Cola’s suppliers of PET plastic and packaging solutions,
subsequently converted this material into the PET plastic required
to make the first Coca-Cola bottle – and the world’s first drinking
bottle – made with marine plastics.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company,
offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and
territories. In addition to the company’s Coca-Cola brand, our
portfolio includes AdeS, Ayataka, Costa, Dasani, Del Valle, Fanta,
Georgia, Gold Peak, Honest, innocent, Minute Maid, Powerade,
Simply, smartwater, Sprite, vitaminwater and ZICO. We’re constantly
transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to
bringing innovative new products to market. We’re also working to
reduce our environmental impact by replenishing water and promoting
recycling. With our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000
people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities
worldwide. Learn more at Coca-Cola Journey at
www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram,
Facebook and LinkedIn.
About Ioniqa Technologies
Ioniqa is a clean-tech spinoff from the Eindhoven University of
Technology (The Netherlands), specialized in creating value out of
waste by using its proprietary circular technology. With a
cost-effective process, Ioniqa is able to close the loop for
plastics, starting with PET plastics. This award winning innovation
transforms all types and colors of PET waste into valuable sources
for ‘virgin-quality’ recycled PET. Up-cycling processes for other
types of plastic are being researched and expected to be launched
in the near future.
About Indorama Ventures Indorama
Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand (Bloomberg
ticker IVL.TB), is one of the world’s leading petrochemicals
producers, with a global manufacturing footprint across Africa,
Asia, Europe and Americas. The company’s portfolio comprises
Integrated PET, Fibers, Packaging, Specialty Chemicals and Olefins.
Indorama Ventures products serve major FMCG and Automotive sectors,
i.e. Beverages, Hygiene, Personal Care, Tire and Safety segments.
Indorama Ventures has approx. 19,000 employees worldwide and
consolidated revenue of US$ 10.7 billion in 2018. The Company is
listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI).
Indorama Ventures is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand with
global operating sites in:
EMEA:
The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, France,
UK, Italy, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Luxembourg,
Spain, Turkey, Nigeria, Ghana, Portugal, Israel, Egypt, Russia,
Slovakia, Austria
Americas:
USA, Mexico, Canada, Brazil
Asia:
Thailand, Indonesia, China, India, the
Philippines, Myanmar
About Mares Circulares Mares
Circulares, partially funded by The Coca-Cola Foundation, is a
collaboration between the Coca-Cola system in Iberia, Spain's
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food & the Environment and
three leading non-profit organizations — Chelonia Association,
Ecomar Foundation and Vertidos Cero Association. The shared
objective of the intervention scheme is to clean beaches and sea
beds in Spain and Portugal, by collecting and recycling marine
litter. The project also aims to raise awareness of responsible
waste disposal to stop litter from arriving in natural spaces, as
well as facilitate related scientific studies and a start-up to
promote circular economy. Over 170 public and private
organizations, such as local municipalities, NGOs, universities,
and environmental and community associations, help make this
happen.
_________________________ 1 Final recycled marine plastic
content in the bottle will vary post production, between 20-25%
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191003005139/en/
The Coca-Cola Company Ann Moore, annmoore@coca-cola.com
Ioniqa Technologies, Eindhoven (NL) Telephone +31 40 751 76 30,
Web: Ioniqa.com, Email: info@ioniqa.com, Twitter:
@IoniqaCircular
Indorama Ventures Richard Jones, Tel: +662.661.6661 ext. 680,
richard.j@indorama.net
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