Cola-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has recycled 50,000 tonnes of plastic since 2012 and now celebrates five years of investing in its plastics recycling initiative.
In a joint venture with Plastipak, started in 2012, CCEP changed its processing capabilities to double its production of food-grade recycled plastic (rPET).
Sourced from household across the UK Coca-Cola’s partnership with Clean Tech CCEP reached its goal of using 25 per cent rPET in all its bottles since 2012.
This means that bottles, reprocessed in Lincolnshire, return to shelves in shops within six weeks.
Employing 150 people onsite, the Hemswell site was a sponsor of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, which pledged to be the most sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Games possible.
Nick Brown, Head of Sustainability at CCEP, said:
Five years ago we made a significant investment as part of our long-term commitment to transforming British recycling. The expansion of this facility was a landmark moment, not only in allowing CCEP to meet targets for rPET content in our packaging, but also in supporting the growth of a domestic system that helped to close the loop in GB plastic bottle reprocessing.
“There have been learnings along the way, but as an industry first, we’re proud of what we’ve been able to achieve to date through our partnership with Clean Tech, not least because it demonstrates the vast potential to others across the manufacturing sector.
“We are confident that the progress evident in GB over the last ten years – having moved from a limited collection of plastic bottles to six out of every 10 now being recycled – indicates a positive outlook for the future. We hope that initiatives like this give consumers confidence in the potential to recycle here in GB, and will encourage them to recycle every bottle after use. We are continually evolving our recycling strategy and investing in innovations to support our overall sustainability commitments.”
Martin Hargreaves, Managing Director at Plastipak Europe, said:
Plastipak, through its subsidiary Clean Tech, is committed to UK PET plastic recycling and our close relationship with CCEP.
As a global packaging producer, Plastipak embraces its responsibility towards the environment, demonstrated by our continued investment to further increase both the output and quality of our recycled material at Hemswell.”
