Sustainable Packaging & Recycling

At The Coca-Cola Company, we envision a world in which our packaging is no longer seen as waste, but as a valuable resource for the future. By working to conserve natural resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the entire life cycle of a package, we are taking steps toward realizing this vision. From developing packaging designs that use less material without sacrificing quality, to investing in technologies and recovery systems that enable us to use more recycled materials, we are committed to continuously enhancing the sustainability of our packaging and our business.

Our sustainable packaging strategy focuses on three key areas:

1. Package Design 2. Community Recycling Programs 3. Package Material Reuse

Our strategy is focused on improving our management of packaging performance. In 2006, we launched a global online inventory of our primary, secondary, and transport package systems by sales and weight. In its first year, the inventory captured nearly 90% of our global unit packaging data. Through this database, we are better equipped to measure resource efficiency and recycling rates.

For more information on our 2007 data and 6-year trends, please review our 2007/2008 Sustainability Review.

The Coca-Cola Company has invested more than $60 million to build the world's largest plastic-bottle-to-bottle recycling plant and support recycling in the U.S. These investments are part of a comprehensive goal to recycle or reuse 100 percent of the Company's PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles in the U.S. See the video »