 |
|
Sustainable Packaging/
Recycling Overview
Understanding Our Packaging Challenges
Our Sustainable Packaging/
Recycling Strategy
Reducing Our Packaging
Reusing Materials and Increasing Recycled Content
Developing Renewable Resources
Recycling at Our Facilities
Effective Recovery and Consumer Recycling
Partnerships and Public Policy
|
|
Understanding Our Packaging Challenges
In 2009, we used an estimated 928,600 metric tons of primary packaging materials such as aluminum, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, and glass for our beverage containers, of which 573,000 metric tons were used in North America and 355,600 metric tons were used in Europe. Secondary packaging materials, such as shrink wrap and cardboard used to bundle our products into packages for sale or distribution, totaled approximately 262,000 metric tons, with 210,000 metric tons in North America and 52,000 metric tons in Europe. More than 95 percent of our primary and secondary packaging is recyclable; however, the packaging is not always recycled by our customers and consumers.
Recycling rates vary by material — aluminum and glass both have established systems where material is recovered and recycled into new packaging relatively easily. However, the market for recycled plastic is less developed, particularly where recycling rates are low. Therefore, it is more difficult to get the supply of food-grade-quality recycled PET that we need to increase the recycled content in our beverage packaging. We are working on a long-term strategy to close the recycling gap, in order to achieve our 2020 goal.
|
|
|
©2010 Coca Cola Enterprises. All rights reserved.