Using up to 32 per cent less plastic, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has launched a twist PET plastic bottle for its Abbey Well Spring Water brand.
The design enables drinkers to crush the bottles with ease in the hopes that it will encourage people to recycle them.
Created by British designers Kinneir Dufort following a £14 million investment, the design requires less energy to produce, transport, and recycle.
A ‘recycle me’ label is also featured on the design to remind consumers to dispose of the bottle responsibly, with further recycling information also found on the inside of the label.
Rolling out towards the end of the year, the bottle is to be manufactured at CCEP’s manufacturing facility in Morpeth, Northumberland.
The new bottle design will feature in the 500ml, 740ml sports cap, 250ml sports cap, and 500ml sparkling water products.
Caroline Cater, director of operational marketing at CCEP said, “With the water sector continuing to grow, it’s more important than ever to minimize our environmental impact and encourage more recycling.”
Linda Crichton, head of resource management at WRAP said that, “This is another great innovation from Coke, reducing material usage whilst ensuring the bottle remains recyclable is really important for resource efficiency.”
Jane Buckley, operations director at Coca-Cola European Partners, Morpeth, added:
We’re very proud to be the official manufacturer of Abbey Well Spring Water and with the water sector continuing to grow, it’s more important than ever to minimise our environmental impact and encourage more recycling.
“This new innovation is a positive step towards our commitment of reducing the carbon footprint of the drink in your hand, and driving positive sustainable contribution to both the environment and society.”
It is estimated that out of the five million tonnes of plastics produced each year in the UK, 2.4 million tonnes of that is used for packaging, with 1.7 million tonnes coming from households.
According to the RECOUP Household Survey 2015, 492,623 tonnes of plastic packaging was collected from UK households in 2014/15, representing an increase of 6.1 per cent in rigid plastic packaging collected, and 3.5 per cent in plastic bottles.
This represents a recycling rate of 57 per cent for plastic bottles.
