Today, Coca-Cola announced their commitment to serve 25% of their beverages in reusable packaging by 2030. This is an exciting development, and we commend their commitment to growing a circular economy for packaging that prioritizes “reduce and reuse” first - over recycling. 

In terms of big consumer brands, Coke is already leading the way on reusables:

• Returnable glass bottles and refillable PET currently represent more than 50% of Coke’s sales in more than 20 countries, and more than 25% of sales in another 20 countries.

• And traditional refillable/returnable packaging accounts for approximately 16% of the company’s total volume in 2020.

Practically speaking, what does this commitment mean for furthering reuse? There are two core ways Coke can achieve their goal:

1. Coke can expand their offering of refillable containers for their bottled beverages - and build out the necessary collection, washing and refilling infrastructure. In this scenario, refillable bottles become the new normal on store shelves and in convenience stores.

2. They can expand the use of reusable cups for fountain-drinks across large-scale venues, college campuses, fast food establishments, etc. In this scenario, Coke would work with their vendor partners to ditch disposable cups in favor of reusables for on-site consumption, and even take-out/delivery provided the infrastructure is there for collection. This is easier to achieve in a closed environment like a theme park, stadium, or corporate campus, but with new reuse infrastructure coming on line, it’s also possible for cups to be collected in a city with other reusables.

In many other countries, Coke has been expanding their refillable bottle infrastructure. But here in the US, they dismantled it decades ago, so they will have to rebuild from scratch. However, big opportunities for doing so exist in states and regions that have passed bottle bills (deposit-refund systems) for beverage containers. 

For example, in a region like New England - where most of the states have deposit-refund systems – Coke and other big brands could start introducing refillable bottles into the redemption center process for receiving bottles from consumers and giving them their deposit back. Recycling facilities that handle bottles and cans could add another “sort” for refillable bottles. 

For us, the most important thing is for Coke to demonstrate their commitment. Given their size and place in the market, they can bring an entire industry along with them. We’re excited for the opportunity to work with them on pilot projects to create replicable systems that can scale. In addition, we want to see them openly supporting policies that can help drive refillable containers – like deposit-refund systems with strong refill provisions.

We commend Coke on their commitment, and we hope it inspires and encourages other consumer brands to do the same.