Coca-Cola European Partners to Eliminate 4,000-Plus Tons of Multipack Shrink Wrap

Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) has announced it will be replacing plastic shrink wrap with cardboard for its can multipacks across Western Europe, removing approximately 4,000 tonnes (4,400 U.S. tons) of single-use plastic per year across the region. This is the latest move in Coca-Cola’s efforts to meet its Action on Packaging commitments to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025

Plastic shrink wrap is used to keep individual products together while they are being transported and sold to customers as multipacks. Says CCEP, shrink wrap can be harder to recycle than some other plastics, and many markets do not have collection schemes in place that allow shrink wrap to be recycled. As a result, much of it currently ends up in landfill or as packaging waste.

The shrink wrap for CCEP’s multipacks will be replaced with 100% recyclable, sustainably sourced cardboard, with either an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) certification. As part of the process to shift multipack cans to cardboard packaging, CCEP has conducted extensive R&D work to identify the appropriate cardboard packaging format for each multipack size. The company’s longer-term goal is to make all the secondary packaging in its supply chain as sustainable as possible, by working with its suppliers on innovative technical solutions.