Coca-Cola France moves all packed beverages to refillable glass bottles in hospitality sector

24 May 2022 --- Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) in France is revealing plans to distribute all of its packaged beverages to hotels, restaurants and cafes in returnable glass bottles by the end of 2022. The move will make it the first non-alcoholic beverage supplier to distribute 100% of its packaging using a deposit system. 

CCEP says the new bottles can be refilled up to 25 times, saving more than 15 million single-use glass bottles and associated energy. The universal 250 ml returnable glass bottle will be used for the Fuze Tea, Tropico, Sprite, Fanta and Minute Maid brands. They join the Coca-Cola Original, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Cherry brands in their iconic 330 ml glass bottles.

“The 160,000 cafés, hotels and restaurants in France will now have the opportunity to receive all our beverages in returnable glass bottles. Right now, we are launching Fuze Tea and Tropico in 250 ml recycled glass bottles. Fanta, Sprite and Minute Maid will follow before the end of the year. This aims at appealing to both our retail customers while meeting consumers’ expectations,” comments Yann Guelorget, CCEP France’s out-of-home sales director.

In February, Coca-Cola announced a target to sell 25% of all beverages globally across its brand portfolio in refillable or returnable glass or plastic bottles, or refillable containers through traditional fountains or Coca-Cola Freestyle dispensers, by 2030.Coca-Cola Original is already packaged in the iconic 330 ml glass bottle.

Universal bottle format
The universal format provides retail outlets and wholesalers with easier management of bottle returns. Once empty, the bottles are stored in their own crates and collected for return to the factory to be cleaned and refilled.

CCEP says a refillable glass bottle boasts a greenhouse gas impact three times lower than that of a single-use glass bottle.

“Packaging accounts for 43% of our total value chain emissions. This project is a significant milestone toward reducing the carbon footprint of our packaging in France, as we continue to innovate in refillable containers and aim to collect 100% of our packaging,” adds Guelorget.

New neck design and attached caps
Also this month, CCEP boosted the environmental sustainability credentials of its carbonated PET soft drinks bottles with new lightweighted necks and attached caps.

In partnership with Coca-Cola Great Britain, the transition to attached caps (also known as tethered caps) will cover the company’s entire brand portfolio, including Coca-Cola Original Taste, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Dr Pepper and Lilt. The transition began this month in Scotland.

Since 2008, CCEP has reduced the weight of its 500 ml PET bottles by 30% from 28.9 g to 19.9 g. The new lighter-weight neck design will remove a further 1 g of plastic per bottle, totaling 6,800 tons of plastic before 2025.

By Joshua Poole