Coca-Cola to scrap its plastic shrinkwrap on supermarket multipacks of cans

Coca-Cola is to scrap its plastic shrinkwrap on supermarket multipacks of cans as war on pollution gathers pace

  • More than 30million Coke brand packs will move to cardboard over 18 months 
  • Includes packs of Fanta, Sprite, Dr Pepper and Lilt cutting use of ‘virgin plastic’ 
  • Company hopes to ‘ensure all of our packaging is as sustainable as possible’

Coca-Cola will stop using plastic shrink-wrap across all multipacks of cans sold in supermarkets.

More than 30million packs across all Coke brands including Fanta, Sprite, Dr Pepper and Lilt, will move to cardboard over the next 18 months.

The move is part of the company’s effort to cut the use of ‘virgin plastic’ which will see 4,000 tons removed from its product line-up across western Europe. 

General manager Jon Woods said: ‘We’re taking action wherever we can to ensure all of our packaging is as sustainable as possible.’ 

Coca-Cola will stop using plastic shrink-wrap across all multipacks of cans sold in supermarkets in efforts to cut the use of ‘virgin plastic’

Separately, the company has backed the introduction of a deposit and refund scheme for plastic bottles to encourage a rise in collection and recycling.

The plastic shrink-wrap currently used on the multipacks its recyclable in theory. However, nine in ten local councils do not accept the material in kerbside collections. By contrast virtually every single one accepts cardboard.

Sprite bottles will be switched from green to clear plastic to make them easier to recycle into new bottles

Sprite bottles will be switched from green to clear plastic to make them easier to recycle into new bottles

The shrink-wrap will be replaced with 100per cent recyclable, sustainably sourced cardboard, with either an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) certification.

The decision by Coca-Cola follows similar moves by a number of beer companies to remove the plastic rings from multi-can packs of beer such as of Guinness, Carlsberg, Carling and Coors and replace them with cardboard.

The changes are further evidence as to how big business, including manufacturers and supermarkets, are taking radical steps to reduce waste as championed by the Daily Mail’s ‘Turn the Tide on Plastic’ campaign. 

The switch to cardboard is the latest change from Coca-Cola as part of its sustainable packaging strategy, launched in 2017, in which it set out its ambition to work with others to ensure that all of its packaging is recovered so that more is recycled and none ends up as waste.

In June, Coca-Cola announced that Glaceau smartwater would be its first brand in Great Britain to be sold in bottles made from 100per cent recycled plastic, removing 3,100 tonnes of virgin plastic from circulation.

It is also on track to double the recycled content in all of its plastic bottles in 2020 and is switching Sprite bottles from green to clear plastic to make them easier to recycle into new bottles.

It came as Burger King said it was removing all plastic toys from its children’s meals served in the UK from today to save an estimated 320 tonnes of waste annually.

The fast food chain said the move was part of a wider commitment to reduce its use of plastic, and admitted it was ‘spurred on’ by Southampton sisters Ella and Caitlin McEwan’s petition against the use of plastic toys in children’s meals.

Burger King is installing amnesty bins in all of its restaurants across the UK where people can drop off any free plastic meal toys, including those given away with confectionery or within children’s magazines.

The plastic will be transformed into new play areas and restaurant items including interactive trays.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk