Coca-Cola to make bottle from 100% recycled paper

Coca-Cola in Europe has unveiled its plan to create a bottle made from 100% paper.

The concept, made in collaboration with the company’s partner Paboco and the three other companies in the Paboco Pioneer Community, is at the stage of a first-generation prototype.

Stijn Franssen, EMEA R&D Packaging Innovation Manager at Coca-Cola, said the company’s vision is to create a paper bottle that can be recycled like any other type of paper, and the prototype is the first step on the way to achieving this.

“A paper bottle opens up a whole new world of packaging possibilities, and we are convinced that paper packaging has a role to play in the future,” Franssen said.

The company said the first-generation paper bottle will contain some plastic as it’s still a fair way away from achieving a plastic-free bottle.

“This prototype still consists of a paper shell with a plastic closure and a plastic liner inside. The plastic we use is made from 100% recycled plastic that can be recycled again after use,” Franssen said.

“The next step is to find a solution to create a bottle without the plastic liner.”

Just like other types of packaging, a paper bottle of the future must adhere to the same high safety and quality standards for food packaging that currently apply.

Franssen said the company is putting the bottle through comprehensive testing in the lab to see how it performs in the refrigerator, how strong it is and how well it protects the drinks inside.

“We also reflect on how our consumers will react to this paper bottle. Topics like when and where it could be sold and how it can be recycled are all considered. The bottle must be explored from every perspective to ensure that we make the bottle the best it can be,” Franssen said.

The concept is part of Coca-Cola’s sustainability initiative, a World Without Waste, which aims to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one the company sells by 2030.

The initiative will also see the iconic bottler substantially reduce its use of virgin packaging materials and only use packaging materials that are 100% recyclable.

Image courtesy of Coca-Cola.