SHANGHAI — Coca-Cola Co. announced in April it is launching its PlantBottle package to distribute Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta in the massive Chinese market.
The package, the first fully recyclable PET plastic beverage bottle made partially from plants, is being used to distribute 888-ml and 1-liter sparkling products, and initially will launch in the markets of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Tianjin and Liaoning.
Coca-Cola has introduced more than 14 billion PlantBottle packages in over 24 countries since 2009, which it claims has eliminated the equivalent of 300,000 barrels of oil, or the equivalent of almost 135,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The Atlanta-based company has committed to use PlantBottle packaging for all plastic bottles by 2020 in China.
"Our ultimate goal is a carbon neutral, 100 percent renewable and 100 percent recyclable bottle that we all feel good about," said Shell Huang, research fellow and director of global external technology acquisition, in a news release.
Coke sourced sugarcane as the material of PlantBottle packaging. It created one of the key ingredients in PET plastic, called monoethylene glycol, from plants that represents 30 percent of the total composition of the PET by weight. The firm is now working with partners to find a way to use cellulose from plants.