Coca-Cola lightens up

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is to launch a new lightweight 500ml PET bottle in Great Britain, which will enable it to reduce the amount of PET packaging it uses by over 700 tonnes per year.

Following successful trials, partly funded by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), the new 24g bottle will replace Coca-Cola’s 26g bottle for brands including ‘Coca-Cola’, ‘diet Coke’, ‘Coke’ Zero, ‘Fanta’, ‘Sprite’ and ‘Lilt’.

Trials with CCE involved the production, filling and market testing of over four million lightweighted 24g PET bottles, and is the latest in a series of initiatives by CCE to reduce the amount of packaging used in PET bottles.

'It is a significant technical challenge for the industry to reduce weight and the reduction in the weight of our 500ml PET bottles from 26 to 24 grams is a major step forward,' said CCE Project Manager Christine Watson.

The trial proved to be technically and logistically challenging, involving extensive production trials and modifications to CCE’s bottle blowing equipment. During the trial CCE worked closely with PET supplier Amcor PET Packaging to redesign the preform bottle - the piece of moulded plastic from which bottles are produced. As a result, CCE was able to use a stronger, lightweight bottle with no decrease in quality, performance or customer satisfaction.