PET bottles with a 25-30% recycled polymer content are being trialled in-store in the UK by both Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE; www.cokecce.com) and high street pharmacy chain Boots. A range of products is being evaluated by CCE, including 500ml diet Coke bottles. Varying types of recycled PET (rPET), including flake and pellet, are incorporated at a 25% level with virgin polymer. An estimated 15 million 500ml bottles will be manufactured during the trial. Boots is using a 30% rPET content in bottles for its non-food “Ingredients” range of toiletry products.

Both developments are part of a project funded by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (London / UK; www.wrap.org.uk) in conjunction with Closed Loop London (www.visyclosedloop.com). They follow an initial move by Marks & Spencer that saw rPET being incorporated into its “Food to Go” range of packaging. According to Liz

Goodwin, director of materials for WRAP, the M&S trials “have proved very encouraging,” and the latest projects will provide “further valuable results to fuel the growing interest being shown by retailers and consumers in the use of recycled plastic in retail packaging.”