Coke’s Plant-Based Bottle Hits Store Shelves
The Coca-Cola Company’s PlantBottle is officially on store shelves. Made from a special blend of PET, Coke’s new bottle is made from plant resources, rather than petroleum, and is 100 percent recyclable.
“Today, we are taking a major step along our sustainable packaging journey as The Coca-Cola Company becomes the first-to-market with a recyclable PET plastic bottle made partially from plants,” said Coca-Cola Company Chairman and CEO, Muhtar Kent. “From Coke brands in Copenhagen to DASANI water in the Western United States, we are starting to roll out the first generation of the bottle of the future.”
For the PlantBottle packaging in the U.S. and Canada, up to 30 percent of the content in the PET plastic comes from plants.
The bottle is created through a process that converts sugar cane into molasses, then into a key component for PET plastic. While the bio-based component can account for up to 30 percent of the resulting PET plastic in packaging, the percentage varies for bottles that also contain recycled PET.
The combined plant-based and recycled content makes up 65 percent of the material – 50 percent from recycled material and 15 percent from plant-based material.
Plastics derived from plant resources generally fall into the “other” category, or plastic #7. According to Keith Christman, senior director Market Advocacy for the American Chemistry Council, end-of-life options and ultimate disposal is the most important factor to consider when purchasing plastic.
“Plant-derived plastic is an interesting area of innovation,” Christman said. “Plastics provide a lot of opportunities to provide product performance, but we would want to look at total life-cycle performance.”
While some versions of this plastic can be recycled with PET bottles, it’s important to double check your curbside program’s specific guidelines.
