By Abbas Nazil
Swire Coca-Cola, a bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company, has become the first beverage producer in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to use locally-sourced recycled plastic in its packaging.
The initiative marks a significant milestone in advancing the city’s recycling capabilities through New Life Plastics, Hong Kong’s first food-grade ready plastic bottle recycling facility.
The facility has begun supplying Swire Coca-Cola with locally produced recycled PET (rPET) and can process up to two million bottles per day.
However, it currently handles around 800,000 bottles daily, indicating a need to strengthen community recycling participation.
Karlijn in ’t Veld, Vice President of Franchise Operations for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and Mongolia at The Coca-Cola Company, said the move goes beyond producing beverages, emphasizing the company’s aim to make a tangible difference toward a sustainable Hong Kong.
Iris Lee, General Manager for Hong Kong and Macau, explained that Coca-Cola is rethinking its packaging design to inspire consumers to recycle. She said the company uses its brand visibility to promote collection and recycling efforts across the region.
The localized recycling approach, she added, plays a crucial role in addressing beverage packaging waste in Hong Kong while providing a sustainable solution for the community.
A survey conducted by Coca-Cola Hong Kong revealed that more than two-thirds of consumers try their best to recycle beverage packaging after use.
However, over 77 percent cited inadequate or inconvenient recycling facilities as the biggest challenge, while nearly a quarter expressed concerns about the proper handling of recycled materials.
Despite these challenges, about 63 percent of respondents said they would prefer beverages in environmentally friendly packaging, and 80 percent stated that a company’s sustainability initiatives influence their purchasing decisions.
