Our journey towards a World Without Waste

KeelClip™ packaging now in use on all multi-pack cans eliminating 200 tonnes of shrink wrap plastic across the island of Ireland

Today we have announced two further milestones in our ambition to achieve a World Without Waste by 2030.

Over the past two years Coca-Cola has been accelerating its sustainable packaging strategy and today marks a significant milestone in this journey with the rollout of its new KeelClip packaging. 

KeelClip is an innovative cardboard packaging solution that is now in use on all 4, 6 & 8 can multi-packs from the Coca-Cola portfolio. The introduction of this new packaging will eliminate the use of more than 200 tonnes of shrink wrap plastic across the island of Ireland annually.  

We have also announced a transition of the iconic Sprite green bottle to a clear bottle. While Sprite bottles have always been 100% recyclable, the colour made it harder for them to be recycled back into clear bottles through mechanical recycling. The switch from green to clear will significantly increase the value of the bottles when being reused or re-purposed.

“Earlier this year we announced our plans to introduce KeelClip packaging and we’re delighted to see it now in market. The transition of the iconic green Sprite bottle to a clear bottle is also another move made by us to ensure our packaging is easy to recycle enhancing efforts to keep materials in use for as long as possible.”

“Our efforts won’t stop there. We’re continuing to champion greater collection and recycling of our packaging, with an ambition to collect back and recycle 100% of all bottles and cans we sell by 2030. Recently we were delighted that The Coca-Cola Foundation was able to support environmental charity, Hubbub, and Dublin City Council to roll-out Dublin #CircleCity today, a new on-street recycling initiative encouraging the public to recycle plastic bottles and aluminium cans in the city centre. This initiative is live on the streets of Dublin for the coming months and we’re looking forward to learning from it and understanding the impact an initiative of its kind can have.”

Ireland and Northern Ireland were one of the first European markets chosen by Coca-Cola HBC for the roll out of KeelClip™. 

“At Coca-Cola HBC, we remain firmly committed to our sustainability journey.  All of the bottles and cans we sell are 100% recyclable and we are proud to have invested extensively in recycled PET in recent years. Today 45% of our total plastic portfolio is made of recycled materials, which has eliminated the need for 3,450 tonnes of new plastic each year. We have also reduced the plastic used in our bottles by 10% since 2018, saving 1,000 tonnes of plastic annually.”

In 2021, Coca-Cola will also move to cardboard solutions for all larger multi-pack cans, eliminating a total of 585 tonnes of plastic annually. 

To read more about Coca-Cola’s sustainability vision and commitments in Ireland go here.