CCEP to swap multipack shrink wrap for cardboard

In a move expected to remove approximately 4,000 tonnes of single-use plastic per year, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) will be replacing plastic shrink wrap, used to keep individual products together within its can multipacks, with sustainably sourced cardboard.

Plastic shrink wrapping can be harder to recycle than 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 move by CCEP to 100% recyclable, cardboard material, which will take place across its western European business, supports the company’s Action on Packaging commitment to making all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.

Joe Franses, VP sustainability at CCEP, said: “We know that consumers are seeking more sustainable alternatives for packaging. We are committed to removing all unnecessary single-use plastic from our products and by moving our can multipacks to cardboard we are helping people to enjoy our products knowing that the packaging won’t end up as waste or litter in rivers and oceans.”

In June 2019, in Western Europe, Coca-Cola announced that its Honest, Glaceau Smartwater and Chaudfontaine brands will all be sold in bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET), replacing 9,000 tonnes of virgin plastic per year across Western Europe. The company has also committed to ensuring that at least 50% of the material used for PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) bottles comes from recycled plastic.