“White Clear bottles improves recycle quality” – Coca-cola explains why sprite bottle was changed

By Hauwa Ali

The Director, Public Affairs, Communications, and Sustainability, of The Coca-Cola Company, Nwamaka Onyemelukwe has revealed that the Sprite PET bottles were changed from green to white clear bottles because white bottles are easier to recycle and are more valuable.

Onyemelukwe revealed this when she spoke at the MEDIA PARTNERSHIP FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY parley organised by Statewide Waste and Environmental Education Project Foundation (SWEEP) recently in Lagos.

According to her, the change was a response to feedback Coca-Co- la Company received from recycling compa- nies that green bottles are more difficult to recycle, and are of less value when recycled.

“This is part of why we transitioned our Sprite from green to clear bottles to increase the collection and recycling rate. Taking colors out of bottles improves the quality of the recycled material.

“We changed Sprite bottle from green to clear bottles not to give our customers a new bottle, but because we received feedback from recycling companies that green bottles are more difficult to recycle, and are of less value when recycled.

“The initiative also has material benefits for informal waste reclaimers because of its use in higher-value products like bottle2bottle resin, it is worth more than darker colors like greens and brown, and reclaimers can earn more. Simply put that we want to drive more value for everyone within the recycling value chain” she said.

Onyemelukwe re-iterated that Coca-Cola had a ‘World Without Waste’ vision to help collect and recycle the equivalent of a bottle or can for every one it sells by 2030, reaching a 100 per cent collection and recycling rate of all its packaging. This vision also includes ensuring all its packaging is 100 per cent recyclable by 2025 and ensuring all packaging is made with an average of 50 per cent recycled content by 2030.

At the event, SWEEP Foundation in collaboration with circular economy practitioners and journalists covering the environment launched ‘Journalists for the Environment’ to popularise habits that support reuse, recycling, and reduction of plastic waste.

The Foundation noted that until 2020, a kilogramme of collected plastic waste sold at about N20- N40. But this has appreciated to N80- N100 per kg, a 75 per cent increase. These value increases are due to the emergence of increased number of recycling facilities in Nigeria that serve as off-takers for the collected used plastic waste.

SWEEP foundation, through funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation, has been able to deploy 120 giant recycling receptacles across the community to enable citizens’ access to a buy back scheme for their recyclable waste.

Phillips Obuesi, President, SWEEP Founda- tion, said: “We are excited to inaugurate the Journalists for the Environment group. We recognize the power of storytelling and un- derstand journalists are critical stakeholders in this circular economy.

“We don’t understand that our actions affect the environment. It is a knowledge gap, and the group we are launching today is set to close that gap.” he said.