GIVING OUR BOTTLES A SECOND CHANCE.

New Zealand is one of the first countries to achieve and exceed Coca- Cola’s global sustainable packaging goal around increasing the use of recycled plastic.

Over half of all plastic bottles made by CocaCola Amatil & Coca- Cola Oceania in New Zealand will be made from completely recycled plastic by the end of this year in a tangible effort to reduce the amount of new plastic being used.

New Zealand is one of the first countries to achieve and exceed Coca- Cola’s global sustainable packaging goal around increasing the use of recycled plastic, which aims to make all bottles with an average of 50 per cent recycled content by 2030.

The commitment also goes beyond the Ministry for the Environment’s Plastic Packaging Declaration as all Coca- Cola Amatil and Coca- Cola Oceania cans, glass and plastic bottles are already recyclable.

The move to using recycled plastic covers a number of well-known international and local brands such as Coca- Cola, Powerade, Sprite, Fanta and Pump.

Since the start of 2019, a number of brands began to transition into using only recycled plastic bottles. The transition into recycled plastic will mean, by the end of the year, all plastic bottles smaller than one litre and water bottles of all sizes will be made from plastic that use to be something else.

“As one of New Zealand’s largest beverage companies, we have a responsibility to be part of the solution to the plastic waste crisis,” says Richard Schlasberg, general manager of Coca- Cola Oceania.

“That is why over half of our plastic bottles will be made entirely from recycled plastic by the end of 2019.”

The move to increase the use of recycled plastic will mean 2900 tonnes of new plastic will be avoided. This is the equivalent in weight of 223 Go Wellington buses.

Schlasberg says this is a significant commitment to using more recycled plastic. “It ’s one of the largest of its kind by a beverage company in New Zealand – and will significantly reduce the i mpact of our business on the environment.”

The initiative is part of Coca- Cola’s international efforts to reduce its impact on the environment and encourage sustainable practices across all countries where it operates. The Coca- Cola Company has a global goal of reducing waste and collecting and recycling as many cans and bottles as it sells each year by 2030.

Coca- Cola Oceania and Coca- Cola Amatil NZ also support a number of grassroots initiatives to help collect and recycle beverage containers including The Public Place Recycling Scheme, the Band Together anti- litter campaign and Sea Cleaners.

The Coca- Cola Foundation provided a year- long grant, worth over $ NZD300,000 to Sea Cleaners. This enabled the Sea Cleaners’ team to put an extra boat and crew on the water, going out five days a week and one Sunday a month during 2019. This equates to nearly 2000 hours of marine litter collection - with the aim of collecting 2000 – 3000 litres of litter each day.

To learn more about this announcement and CocaCola’s sustainable packaging goals and initiatives, visit: Coca- colajourney.co. nz/sustainability.