Produce plastic bottles made from 100% recycled material

Our Goal

We recommend that Coca-Cola increase its target of using 50% of recycled material in its packaging by 2030 to ‘using 100% of recycled material in its packaging by 2030’. This target increase will help prioritise the need for changes to be made in Coca-Cola’s plastic production systems and should reduce the global plastic pollution created by Cola-Cola. The increased target should also reduce Coca-Cola’s contribution to climate change.

The Issue

Coca-Cola’s current target is to use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030. Coca-Cola re-committed to this target in 2018, after it failed to reach its initial target of using at least 25% of recycled material in its packaging by 2015. In reality, Coca-Cola actually used only 12.4% of recycled material in its packaging, falling far short of its 2015 goal. Coca-Cola has insisted that it will not abandon plastic bottles due to their popularity with customers; however, in order to reach their sustainability goals, Coca-Cola needs to prioritise adjusting its plastic production methods and reduce its waste.

Coca-Cola has recently been named the top global polluter of plastic for the 3rd year in a row by the currently Break Free from Plastic Audit, which was conducted by 14,734 volunteers across 55 countries in 2020. Currently, Coca-Cola produces 3 million tonnes of plastic packaging every year and 200,000 bottles a minute. Coca-Cola needs to address its plastic pollution and the global impact it creates.