Coca Cola's New Plastic Bottle Recycling Plant

Coca Cola's New Plastic Bottle Recycling Plant



2007 September -   The world's largest beverage 
company, Coca-Cola, is planning to invest more than $60 million to build 
the world's largest plastic-bottle-to-bottle recycling plant and support 
recycling in the United States, the company said Wednesday. 
These investments are part of the company's goal to recycle or reuse 100 
percent of the company's polyethylene terephthalate, PET, plastic bottles 
in the United States. 
"We have set an ambitious goal to recycle or reuse all the plastic bottles 
we use in the U.S. market," said Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola 
North America. "Our investments in recycling infrastructure, coupled with 
our work on sustainable package design, will help us reach this target." 
The Coca-Cola Company and United Resource Recovery Corporation will build 
the recycling plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The plant will produce 
approximately 100 million pounds of food-grade recycled PET plastic for 
reuse each year, the equivalent of producing nearly two billion 20-ounce 
Coca-Cola bottles. 
"The long-term sustainability of our business depends on our ability to 
ensure the sustainability of our packaging," said Douglas. "This new 
recycling facility represents a significant milestone as we work to 
advance recycling in the U.S. and ensure a strong end-market for our PET 
packaging." 
The new Spartanburg plant will open in 2008 and will be fully operational 
in 2009. It is part of a continuing effort by Coca-Cola to support 
recycling in key markets. Coca-Cola also has invested in recycling 
facilities in Switzerland, Mexico, Austria and the Philippines. 
Recycling plastic for reuse yields financial benefits, requires less 
energy than producing bottles with virgin materials, and reduces waste and 
greenhouse gases. 
Over the next 10 years, the Spartanburg recycling plant is expected to 
eliminate the production of one million metric tons of carbon dioxide 
emissions – the equivalent of removing 21,500 cars from the road. 
"Coca-Cola has staked a clear leadership position in its approach to 
sustainable packaging," said Kate Krebs, executive director of the 
National Recycling Coalition. "The new Spartanburg plant represents an 
end-to-end recycling model that is world class and that I hope other 
industries will follow." 
Coca-Cola has been focused on PET recycling and reuse since introducing 
the first beverage bottle made with recycled material in 1991. Now the 
company uses recycled content in more than 17 countries, including the 
United States. 
The company is also beinning to recover and recycle Coca-Cola packaging 
materials including PET, aluminum, cardboard and plastic film and plans to 
develop centralized recycling centers throughout the United States. 
The company will be expanding its partnership in RecycleBank, which now 
operates in southern New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania and will be 
launching service in upstate New York, Vermont and Massachusetts in the 
fall of 2007. 
RecycleBank plans to be in 100,000 homes by the end of 2007. The 
additional investment finalized by Coca-Cola Wednesday will support a 
national rollout of the RecycleBank program by 2009. 
RecycleBank was launched in 2003 by entrepreneurs Patrick FitzGerald and 
Ron Gonen. The Philadelphia-based company rewards households for the 
weight of materials they recycle. Households can earn up to $400 
RecycleBank Dollars per year that can be used at more than 100 
participating local and national businesses. 
Since it started, RecycleBank has taken recycling rates in Philadelphia 
from 15 percent to more than 50 percent, and household participation from 
30 percent to 90 percent. 
"RecycleBank makes recycling easier and more convenient for consumers," 
said Scott Vitters, director of sustainable packaging with Coca-Cola. 
"While consumers reap the rewards of recycling through RecycleBank 
incentives, businesses also benefit through the increased collection of 
valuable, reusable materials like PET." 
Coca-Cola also has introduced a line of merchandise made out of recycled 
PET bottles. The products feature slogans such as "I'm wearing 
post-consumer waste," and "My white t-shirt is green." 

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