Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., the largest marketer and distributor of Coca-Cola products, has announced the formation and launch of Coca-Cola Recycling LLC. Based out of CCE's Atlanta headquarters, the new company will focus on capturing beverage packaging materials in North America for recycling within the Coca-Cola system.
In related news, the Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) announced plans to build the world's largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Spartanburg, S.C. -- a crucial step in achieving TCCC's goal to recycle and reuse 100% of its plastic packaging in the United States.
Coca-Cola Recycling can be seen as part of an overall corporatewide effort to stem waste and reduce materials costs by recovering and recycling packaging materials, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, aluminum, cardboard and plastic film. The new company is tasked to develop cost-efficient solutions for reclaiming used beverage containers and establish centralized recycling centers throughout North America.
While the primary beverage container materials aluminum and PET have high value as recyclables in the marketplace, not enough material is recovered presently to meet the increasing demand for them. For a company as large as Coca-Cola Enterprises, which sells approximately 80 percent of The Coca-Cola Company's bottle and can volume in North America (as well as huge European volumes), this means millions of dollars per year in wasted materials, as recycling plastic and aluminum for reuse is cheaper, requires less energy than producing bottles with new materials and reduces waste and greenhouse gases.
