coca cola: plant bottle and give it back racks

coca-cola ‘give it back® rack’ all images courtesy of the coca-cola company

as part of their efforts to become a leader in sustainability, the world’s largest beverage producer, the coca-cola company, is currently developing a family of 100 percent recyclable merchandise display racks for use in grocery and convenience stores across the U.S.. the ‘give it back® racks’ are free-standing units constructed from recyclable corrugated cardboard which are characterized by graphics that speak of the particular beverage on display. these systems are the first in a family of recyclable displays which the company is producing, including a rack made entirely of recycled PET plastic.

up close

you can view a video here for more information on the initiative.

detail of the rack graphics which combine the silhouette of the classic coca-cola bottle and the plastic recycling symbol

installation of the ‘give it back rack’ being used in a grocery store

installation of the ‘give it back rack’ being used in a grocery store

this is a nice idea and is definitely one positive step in the right direction, and while it is understood that the use of virgin PET material is more desirable than that of its recycled counterpart, as a company producing so many plastic PET bottles, when will the focus be put on the most important issue at hand which is the actual sustainable re-design of the coca-cola bottle packaging itself?

roughly 75 percent of plastic soda and water bottles end up in landfills, by some estimates. using recycled or renewable content is another way to lessen the impact of packaging. ‘we have set an ambitious goal to recycle or reuse all the plastic bottles we use in the U.S. market‘ (coca cola statement of 2007)

even if coke owns the world’s largest bottle-to-bottle recycling plant (in spartanburg, S.C. – inaugurated in 2009), coke stated the maximum recycled content in their PET bottles was 30% in 2010. ‘we are currently using packaging containing recycled PET in a number of U.S. markets, and we believe our use of recycled-content PET will expand over time. ‘

30% plant-based, 100% recyclable bottle

in 2011, ‘coca cola hellenic‘ (the largest bottle producer for coke) will launch ‘plant bottle’, the award-winning PET bottle developed by the coca cola company. up to 30% of the PET in this package is derived from renewable plant-based waste material. it is composed of 70% petroleum-based and 30% sugar-cane-based materials. the cane is crushed and mashed to produce juice, which is then fermented and distilled, producing ethanol. that ethanol is then converted through a series of chemical processes such as oxidation to a mono-ethylene glycol – a component normally derived from petroleum for use in plastic bottles. the MEG is then mixed with terephthalic acid to create PET plastic.

rumor has it that coca cola has also created a 100% plant-based bottle in its labs. statement? – ‘we’re just trying to figure out how to make it in a way that’s commercially viable!‘

‘as it stands today, we still don’t know whether a plant bottle’s environmental footprint is better, worse or the same as that of an oil-derived bottle‘. the new bottle is ‘definitely positive, but no, this doesn’t make me jump up and down with joy,‘ counter points the US container recycling institute, who wishes the beverage makers would use more recycled content.