Coca-Cola Great Britain (Uxbridge, Middlesex / UK; www.coca-cola.co.uk) is now using its “PlantBottle” PET for all 500ml Coca-Cola, Coke Zero and Diet Coke bottles sold in the UK. This means over 200m PlantBottle packages will likely be sold in the UK this year, part of a global rollout of more than 5 bn PlantBottle range packs across 20 countries. Consumers will be able to identify the new bottles through on-pack messaging and a new logo.

The PlantBottle packaging adopted in the UK is made up of up to 22.5% plant-based material and up to 25% rPET. The plant-based component is sourced from bioethanol derived from sugar cane grown on plantations in Brazil – see Plasteurope.com of 27.11.2009. PlantBottles are fully recyclable and Coca-Cola’s vision is that all its plastic bottles, which account for over half its drinks packaging globally, will be produced from a combination of plant-based materials and rPET.

Jon Woods, country manager for Coca-Cola Great Britain & Ireland, said the PlantBottle package is a significant step towards more sustainable packaging. He added: “We’re already hard at work to evolve the next generation of packaging. We’re especially excited about the potential to develop recyclable plastic from natural, renewable resources.” Materials under investigation include plant stems, fruit peels and bark, all of which can be sourced from almost anywhere in the world. “We’re not there yet,” Woods explained, “but, working with our research partners, we think we’ll get there in the next three to five years.”

To celebrate the launch of PlantBottle in the UK, Coca-Cola has collaborated with British designer Wayne Hemingway, who champions sustainable living, to create a limited edition umbrella made from five PET bottles that have been crushed and then processed back into yarn. The design of the umbrella was inspired by the Brazilian sugar cane used in the drinks company’s PlantBottle.