Coca-Cola adds built-in bottle caps to cut litter and boost recycling

Coca-Cola will be adding built-in bottle caps across its entire range of soft drinks in an effort to reduce plastic waste and boost recycling.

Consumers will start to see the new attached caps on1.5L bottles of Fanta, Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke in Scotland later this month. The switch will continue to roll out across the UK and is expected to be completed for all of Coca‑Cola’s plastic bottle range by early 2024.

Plastic bottle caps are often discarded and littered despite being 100% recyclable. Coca-Cola’s new caps will make it easier for consumers to recycle the entire package, ensuring nothing gets left behind.

The move by Coca-Cola Great Britain – which it claims is a first for a major soft drinks company – is the latest in a series of FMCG and retailer innovations under the UK Plastics Pact, aiming to reduce plastic waste and boost recycling.

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“This is a small change that we hope will have a big impact, ensuring that when consumers recycle our bottles, no cap gets left behind,” said Coca-Cola Great Britain general manager Jon Woods.

“As the world’s biggest drinks company, we recognise that we have a leading role to play in pushing innovation and design to produce more high-quality recycled plastic which can be converted into new bottles.”

Adam Herriott, from waste reduction organisation Wrap, said: “This great move from Coca-Cola Great Britain supports the ongoing work with the UK Plastics Pact in trying to ensure that as much plastic packaging is captured and recycled as possible.

“In 2020, we saw the amount of plastic packaging being recycled increase from 44% to 52%. The small changes are what adds up to make a big difference and when it comes to recycling, the higher quality of the material the better.

“We look forward to seeing more innovations in this area.”

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