Environmental
Stewardship

01

We Believe in a Better Shared Future

We care about the future of our planet. We recognize that we have a responsibility to reduce plastic waste and advance recycling so that our bottles and cans can be remade into new bottles and cans.

World Without Waste

We believe developing a circular economy is the most impactful path to address the environmental issues created by packaging. That’s why The Coca-Cola Company and its network of bottlers, including Coke Northeast, established World Without Waste, our global sustainable packaging initiative.

The World Without Waste strategy touches our entire packaging lifecycle and focuses on three fundamental goals in design, collect, and partner:

  • To make 100% of our packaging recyclable globally by 2025—and use at least 50% recycled material in our packaging by 2030
  • To collect and recycle the equivalent of one bottle or can for each one we sell by 2030
  • To participate in partnerships that bring people, businesses, and industries together to support a healthy, debris-free environment

Learn more about Coca-Cola’s World Without Waste vision.

world without waste

Sustainable Packaging

20oz rPET: As part of our World Without Waste commitments, Coke Northeast is proud to offer nine of our best-selling 20oz beverages in bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (also known as rPET):

  • Coca-Cola
  • Coca-Cola Zero Sugar
  • Diet Coke
  • Cherry Coke
  • Cherry Coke Zero
  • Cherry Vanilla Coke
  • Vanilla Coke
  • Caffeine Free Diet Coke
  • Dasani Water (in both 20oz and 1 liter bottles)

Bottles made from 100% recycled PET (rPET) are important because they reduce the use of new plastic, decrease carbon emissions, and accelerate progress towards our World Without Waste goals.

100% recycled PET bottles create and sustain a circular economy for PET bottles through recycling efforts.

  • Plastic, especially PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), is among the most highly valued recyclable materials because it can be remade to make new bottles, over and over again.
  • We are driving a circular economy for plastics by creating demand for recycled content as well as investing in community recycling programs and infrastructure across the northeast.
  • The circular economy is critical to ensuring that plastic waste stays out of the environment and is instead continuously recycled and reused.
    • Using recycled PET also reduces energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
  • The process of making a PET bottle with recycled PET material requires less energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases than making a bottle using virgin petroleum-based sources.
  • For every pound of recycled plastic material used (in lieu of new PET), greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 65%.

No new plastic (PET) is used in the creation of bottles made from 100% recycled plastic – all thanks to consumers who recycle, thus contributing to the circular economy of plastic and reducing waste.

Transition to clear plastic: In 2022, Coke Northeast converted our green Sprite, Fresca, and Mello Yello bottles from green to clear plastic in order to make the bottles easier to recycle and be made into new ones. Removing green colorant from PET packaging supports a more efficient circular economy through easier collection and recycling, greatly reduces risk of color contamination, increases yield for clear rPET production, and increases material quality at recycling facilities.

Bottle Light Weighting: At Coke Northeast, we are continually looking for ways to reduce our use of virgin plastic material. We have implemented a number of bottle light weighting initiatives, which reduces the amount of PET used to produce bottles, including our 20oz soft drink and 16.9oz Dasani Water bottles.

Environmental Partnerships

As Coke Northeast, or through our membership in beverage industry associations, we are proud to support local environmental organizations and their efforts to keep our beaches, oceans, and rivers clean and beautiful.

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