Avery Dennison helps Coca-Cola recycle 70 tonnes of PET waste annually

Avery Dennison, in collaboration with partners throughout the supply chain namely Viridor and PET UK, has helped Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) to reduce waste, costs, and the carbon footprint of Smartwater production in the UK. Smartwater is a British spring water manufactured by Coca-Cola.

Joe Franses, director of corporate responsibility and sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners, said, “This example shows how we can turn the crisis of resources into a business opportunity through close collaboration across the value chain. Businesses which can be truly innovative with the products and services they provide, optimising the resources they use and encouraging consumers to do the same, have the potential to transform our economy.”

Xander van der Vlies, sustainability director for Avery Dennison Materials Group Europe, added, “CCEP wanted to further improve Smartwater production in line with its focus on recycling, sustainability and creating a circular economy. Avery Dennison was a natural choice of partner for this project, given our ambitious year-on-year sustainability goals, and the various initiatives we promote around the reduction of waste created in the self-adhesive label value chain. We have close relationships both with PET UK and with CCEP’s waste management company Viridor, and together we have been able to establish a strategy that saves on waste and emissions while at the same time giving CCEP concrete business benefits and cost reductions.”

More than 50 million bottles of Smartwater were produced in 2015. The PET liners used (carrying the self-adhesive labels before dispensing) generated more than 40 tonnes of waste in that year, costing around $10,600 in disposal/handling costs. Under the new recycling scheme, PET UK shreds and extrudes the waste PET liner and then produces a material suitable for making new items such as PET staple fibre, strapping or thermoformable sheets. There will also be significant savings in CO2 emissions – around 180-200 tonnes in 2016.

Noting that creating awareness on PET recycling will continue, Van der Vlies said, “Since we launched this initiative with PET UK in 2014, we have signed up many wine, spirits, beer, and beverage brands. Avery Dennison has set an ambitious sustainability goal for 2025 of eliminating 70 percent of liner waste from the industry value chain.”