Coca-Cola European Partners has unveiled its new GB sustainable packaging strategy – setting out an ambition for its GB business unit to work with local and national partners to recover all its packaging so that more is recycled and none ends up as litter.

At present, only 70% of the cans and 57% of the plastic bottles used each year are recycled, and CCEP believes these figures should be higher.

Leendert den Hollander, vice president and general manager at Coca-Cola European Partners GB, said: “We have long been committed to reducing the environmental impact of our packaging. We have ensured that all our bottles and cans are 100% recyclable; we have reduced the weight of our packs as much as possible; and have a long-standing commitment to use locally-sourced rPET and other recycled materials in our packaging.

“Coca-Cola operates in Great Britain as two businesses – Coca-Cola Great Britain and its bottling partner Coca-Cola European Partners – and it is through this strong partnership that we have been able to make significant progress in recent years. However, both companies realise there is much more to be done and we have worked together to build an end-to-end strategy focused on meaningful actions in three key areas.

“Our goal is to work with local and national partners to ensure all of our packaging is recovered and recycled. Our new strategy sets out how we will start work to achieve that. We have focused on the actions we can take as a business – such as our ability to communicate to consumers on the importance of recycling – as well as the areas where we want to work in close collaboration with others to reduce litter and increase the recovery and recycling of plastic bottles.

“Our desire to double the amount of recycled material we use in our plastic bottles sends a clear signal that we want to play a positive role in supporting the circular economy here in Great Britain. Our ambition – and our ability to go further in the future – will require reform of the packaging collection system in Great Britain and we will work with others to champion the changes that are required to ensure all our valuable materials are recovered.”

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