Coca-Cola Co. is getting lighter in North America, debuting new PET bottles for its Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and some Minute Maid brands that are up to 10 grams lighter than past bottles.
Coca-Cola — like other carbonated beverages — must use bottles that are more robust than those for bottled water, but the company said it had reached the "floor" with previous attempts to "right-weight" its bottles. It had managed to cut the weight to 21 from 27 grams. By working with suppliers to adapt the preforms used in the bottling process, says Coca-Cola's Alejandro Santamaria Sr., director for global packaging development and innovation, the company now has dropped that weight to 18.5 grams.
"[This represents] a major step in reducing the amount of materials used while preserving the durability and functionality of our packaging," he said in a news release.
The new bottles will have a slightly different shape to accommodate the changes but still provide the same amount of liquid. Sales will begin in the U.S. and Canada in 2024.
Coke says the change will reduce its use of new plastic by the equivalent of 800 million bottles annually.
