Coke’s PlantBottle Makes Inroads in Oil, Co2 Consumption

Coca-Cola Co. said in its latest sustainability report that its PlantBottle packaging project saved more than 60,000 barrels of oil and sequestered the equivalent of nearly 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2010.

Coke’s PlantBottle replaces the traditional 100-percent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic with a PET that contains up to 30-percent plant based material, Coke said in a news release. The company distributed 2.5 billion PlantBottle packages in 10 major markets in 2010. By the end of 2011 the PlantBottle was available in 20 markets and nearly 10 billion packages had been shipped.

Coke’s eighth sustainability report focuses on four main areas: sustainable packaging, water stewardship, energy efficiency and climate protection. In the most recent report Coke followed the Global Reporting Initiative standards for disclosure and had verification by a third party, resulting in an overall B+ grade.

Coke said it also it improved its water efficiency for the eighth consecutive year and reduced its global carbon emissions by 2 percent.