The Three Largest Soft Drinks Giants In The United States Work Together To Promote The Recycling Of PET Plastic Bottles.

Recycle each bottle

Recently, the three largest soft drinks giants in the United States, Pepsi Cola, Coca-Cola and Keurig Dr Pepper, came together to commit themselves to jointly promote an ambitious sustainable development initiative. Three companies announced the launch of the Every Bottle Back project at a joint news conference aimed at improving the problem of plastic waste pollution in the United States.

Keurig Dr Pepper is a new listed company after the acquisition of Dr.Pepper Snapple Group of the soft drink company (Keurig Green Mountain), the US Keurig green hill coffee (Keurig Green Mountain). It owns Dr Pepper, seven Hi, Sunkist and other soft drinks brands and coffee brands Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

　　 Zuo: Pepsi Cola beverage CEO Kirk Tanner, Sheila Bonini, senior vice president of private sector business at WWF, Katherine Lugar, President and chief executive officer of ABA, Keurig Pepper Pepper chief business officer Derek Derek, Coca-Cola North America general manager, chief executive officer of the company, and chief executive officer of the company.

Four major components of the project: subtraction, recycling, education and labelling

Coca-Cola said in a statement that the Every Bottle Back project has four key components, including the cooperation with the World Wide Fund for nature (WWF), the use of ReSource: Plastic measurements of WWF to track the use of plastics and reduce the use of virgin plastics in the United States.

In cooperation with The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners, the company invested $100 million to improve the classification, processing and collection of plastic bottles, popularize public awareness education, enhance consumer recognition of the value of 100% recyclable recycled plastics, and start with packaging label information at the end of 2020 to inform consumers that PET plastic bottles are 100% recyclable.

The project was launched by the American Beverage Association (ABA). ABA is committed to gathering the power of beverage giants to explore sustainable development solutions, including reducing the use of raw plastics in the industry, and increasing investment in recycling and construction in the whole country.

According to ABA's research data, American beverage companies have reduced hundreds of millions of pounds of packaging raw materials through lightweight packaging design and reduction.

　　 Three companies will strive to promote the recycling of PET plastic bottles.

Katherine Lugar, President and chief executive of ABA, said that we are pleased to work with leading environmental protection organizations and recycling agencies to build a closed loop system for plastic production, use, recycling and recycling. The Every Bottle Back project ensures that all plastic bottles can be recycled after use and create new bottles, including bottle caps, so that the use of primary plastics can be reduced.

Cooperation with environmental organizations and circular economic institutions

Through the Every Bottle Back program, three companies cooperate with the most famous environmental public welfare organization, the World Wide Fund for nature (WWF), and The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners, which are the leading investment institutions to develop circular economy.

WWF will provide strategic guidance advice to help assess the progress of the industry in reducing plastic footprint, while The Recycling Partnership and Closed Loop Partners will assist in the deployment of funds for the project.

Sheila Bonini, senior vice president of private sector operations at WWF, said: "only enterprises, governments and NGO groups are working together to repair damaged plastic materials systems so as to achieve the goal of building waste free products by 2030."

Keefe Harrison, chief executive of The Recycling Partnership, said: "if there is no major transformation of the existing US recycling system, the beverage industry will not be able to fulfill the promise of sustainable packaging. Working with the beverage industry to develop the Every Bottle Back program will help improve local recycling and provide a more powerful recycling plan for all materials, including plastic bottles. "

Closed Loop Partners CEO Ron Gonen added: "Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper and Pepsi Cola provide the necessary investment for optimizing domestic recycling. This partnership will become a model of industry cooperation in recycling infrastructure modernization and reducing the use of raw plastics. "

What impact will Every Bottle Back bring?

The Every Bottle Back project will directly affect 23 million of the 9 million families in the United States, covering the Midwest / Northeast, Southeast, Texas and the west coast, because these areas have more mature PET recycling facilities, which can make PET bottles into PET particles for the production of new products.

Through the Every Bottle Back project, more than 80 million pounds (equivalent to 36 thousand tons) of PET bottles will be collected each year. Overall, 300 million pounds (equivalent to 135 thousand tons) of recycled PET bottles will be recycled each year instead of inflow into the waters or landfills.

In addition, three enterprises' investment in the US recycling system will help to collect more high-quality recyclables.

　　 Three companies have set strategic goals in reducing waste plastics.

The three soft drinks giants have set up the goal of sustainable development to demonstrate their determination to deal with waste plastics. This cooperation is part of their commitment to sustainable development.

Coca-Cola's European partners and Western European Coca-Cola promise that by 2025, one bottle will be collected for each bottle, ensuring that all its packaging is 100% recyclable, ensuring that at least 50% of recycled plastic components in plastic bottles are available.

In 2019, the Coca-Cola system invested 180 million euros in the whole operation process of Western Europe, and for the future new packaging development and no packaging solutions, in order to achieve sustainable packaging.

　　 In addition, the bio plastic bottle PlantBottle designed by Coca-Cola has achieved 150 thousand metric tons of CO2 emission reduction in North America.

Pepsi plans to achieve packaging 100% recyclable, composting and biodegradable by 2025. Kirk Tanner, chief executive of Pepsi Cola North America, said:

"We are striving to build a world without waste plastics. We are honored to join hands with our peers and other partners to promote this vision and carry out universal public awareness education to promote waste collection and recycling. Using more recycled plastics means reducing the use of new plastics. "

In addition, Keurig Dr Pepper plans to achieve packaging 100% recyclable or composting by 2025, and use 30% of consumer recycled plastic components in all product combinations.

The cooperation of the three giants shows that the industry's determination and action to deal with waste plastics will also set a good example for the cooperation of the industry.