THE COCA-COLA COMPANY LAUNCHES SPRITE CLEAR BOTTLE

By Eman Hamed 

In line with the 2018 company’s initiative, World Without Waste, The Coca-Cola Company in Egypt is launching a more sustainable product by replacing the memorable green Sprite bottle with a transparent (clear PET) bottle. The Company’s shift works towards reducing its environmental footprint and is hence easier to recycle. This change marks a historical milestone in the company where it no longer has colored PET throughout its entire products’ portfolio in Egypt.

As a strong brand that takes stands, changing Sprite’s historical color is a bold move that proves the company’s commitment to its World Without Waste initiative, which aims to make a global impact toward a sustainable future. 

The Coca-Cola Company also aims to help in collecting and recycling the amount of bottles and cans for every bottle/ can sold leading to plastic neutrality, by 2030; as well as aiming to use up to 50% of recycled materials in their bottles and cans by the same year.

And today, a change from colored PET to transparent PET greatly increases the value of plastic in the after-use market and therefore its ability to remain in a circular economy and be recycled for different purposes. The Coca-Cola Company in Egypt now has a 100% clear PET packaging portfolio and is encouraging other companies in the market that are utilizing PET packaging to follow a similar course in order to preserve the environment.

“Considering the current environmental challenges that our world is facing, it has become a demanding responsibility that we put greater emphasis on the environmental impact of our products and ensure that we, as a brand and a company, are taking steps to operate responsibly in society. We’re journeying to a World Without Waste and this Sprite Clear move means more of our plastic can be collected, recycled and re-used to make new bottles. Our clear bottles can be made into a wide range of new products, they are more valuable than our former green PET bottles, which were also recyclable but had limited uses,” commented Hazem El Azhary, Head of Marketing for Sprite in Egypt. 

He added, “In that regard, The Coca-Cola Company is investing in the circular economy by working with organizations to help grow the collection and increase recycling rates. On a local level, the company has been partnering with BariQ, the largest recycling facility in the Middle East.

Ahmed Nabil, Commercial and Sustainability Director of BariQ commented “In markets where recycling is still developing, usually recyclers striving to achieve sustainable input quality find the segregation process very hard considering the volatility of input as it contains mixed plastics, PVC labels, colored PET and many other obstacles. With the support of Coca-Cola to enhance the infrastructure, the process is clearer and easier. Through this partnership, we have succeeded in achieving 157% of our 2021 target during H1 by processing 18,437MT of local bales through Coca-Cola’s sorting facilities”

“With the targeted green bottle replacement in place, the company will be saving up to 8,000 tons of PET bottles scrap from landfilling or ocean leakage.  This will help us replace 6,400 tons of virgin PET equivalent to approximately 35 – 43 blue whales or let’s say 2/3 of the Eiffel tower. In terms of CO2 emissions, we will save up to 12,000 tons” added Nabil.