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Coca-Cola Kicks Off Expanded rPET Bottle Reach with Recycling Campaign

The brand's Toss In, Take Out campaign celebrates the expansion of Coca-Cola's new 100% rPET bottles across Chicago, Atlanta, and the Pacific Northwest by offering free pizza from iconic pizzerias in exchange for PET bottle return.

Coca-Cola's 100% rPET bottle is rolling out in new markets, including Chicago, Atlanta, and the Pacific Northwest.
Coca-Cola's 100% rPET bottle is rolling out in new markets, including Chicago, Atlanta, and the Pacific Northwest.

Coca-Cola Trademark brands (Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Flavors) in 20-oz bottles made from 100% recycled PET (excluding cap and label) are expanding their availability to new markets this fall, rolling out across Chicago, Atlanta and the Pacific Northwest. Available now in 11 major U.S. markets, a new campaign will be celebrating the expansion of 100% recycled PET bottles (not including label and cap/closure) through takeovers of favorite pizza spots in New York City, Atlanta and Chicago. The brand is asking consumers in those locales to bring in a plastic bottle for recycling in exchange for 'free' pizza.

New Yorkers can forget their wallet for a day and savor a slice of pizza at the famous Bleecker Street Pizza on Oct. 24 as the first restaurant takeover stop. Coke will then head to Goodfellas Pizza & Wings in Atlanta on Nov. 2, and Lou Malnati's Pizzeria in Chicago on Nov. 7. Consumers who bring in any plastic beverage bottle to recycle (including non-Coke products) will have the opportunity to use it as currency to receive their hometown’s pizza and a cold 20-oz Coke beverage served in a 100% recycled plastic bottle*

Coca-Cola Trademark first launched bottles made from 100% recycled plastic in 2021 across California, New York, and Texas and was a first-of-its-kind innovation for the brand in the United States.

“The expanded availability of Coca-Cola Trademark products in 100% recycled plastic bottles advances our ambitions to reduce virgin plastic and drive a circular economy for our packaging, the fundamental principle behind our sustainable packaging initiative, World Without Waste,” says Kurt Ritter, Vice President & General Manager, Sustainability at The Coca-Cola Company North America. “Our ability to use 100% recycled plastic is a direct result of consumers’ sustained commitment to recycling. In the future, we plan to bring this design innovation to more brands and markets.”

With 20-oz bottles made from 100% recycled plastic expanding its availability, Coca-Cola expects to save over 37 million pounds of new plastic on an annual basis–the equivalent of approximately 890 million bottles–in 2024 alone. The shift is also estimated to reduce over 39,000 tons of CO2 equivalent annually in the U.S., the equivalent of taking around 8,400 cars off the road for one year. This expansion of bottles made from 100% recycled plastic* advances The Coca-Cola Company’s progress toward its World Without Waste goal of using at least 50% recycled material in bottles and cans by 2030 globally. PW


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