Coca-Cola pours $38m into bottle recycling project

AS part of efforts to conserve the environment and commemorate global recycling, the Coca-Cola Company yesterday announced a $38 million fund to accelerate collection and recycling of PET plastic bottles across Southern and East Africa.

The initiative is part of the company’s focused “world without waste campaign” over a period of three years and beyond.

Coca-Cola, along with its bottling partners and other industry players across the region, will invest over US$38 million to stimulate plastic recycling industries and educate people about what, how and where to recycle.

“This is part of Coca-Cola’s commitment to fully participate in the solution to address the plastic pollution problem and to accelerate the implementation of its global world without waste vision, which aims to collect and recycle the equivalent of 100 percent of the packaging it sells by 2030,” said the firm in a press statement.

“We have shifted our business priorities to ensure value is added to our post-consumer plastic bottles so that they don’t end up as waste.”

Bruno Pietracci, president of Coca-Cola Southern and East Africa, said the move was a form of “creating a new currency with plastic”, and developing bottles into valuable resources that can drive a green economy.

The giant firm said the campaign will fast track three pillars of the world without waste vision – “design. collect and partner”.

“The idea is to design bottles, which are easy to recycle and are themselves made partly out of recycled material; create collecting opportunities by stimulating recycling industries; and partnering with others in the value chain to reduce plastic waste,” it said.

According to Coca Cola, the campaign would focus on expanding the PETCO model from South Africa to other African markets. In Zimbabwe, PET plastic recycling is primarily driven through the PET Recycling Company, which was established in 2011 with the help of industry players and the Coca-Cola Company. As a result of PETRECO’s efforts, all PET bottles are collected and recycled. This has created jobs and new income opportunities in the recycling sector, said the firm. Coca-Cola has launched same model project in Kenya. The firm also plans to increasing recycled PET content in packaging and use its brands, assets and packaging to educate consumers as well as support community collection activities and businesses.