Josh Brooks / PackagingNews

Coca Cola PlantBottles hit UK supermarket shelves

Coca Cola has officially launched its plant-based PET PlantBottle in the UK and expects to produce more than 200m of the bottles this year.

The bottles, which went on sale yesterday and include a proportion of plant-derived PET, will replace all of Coca-Cola Great Britain’s conventional 500ml bottles for its Coca-Cola, Coke Zero and diet Coke brands.

The PlantBottles used in the Great Britain are made from up to 22.5% plant-based material and up to 25% recycled PET plastic, said Coca-Cola. The plant-based component is sourced from bioethanol from sugarcane.

Packaging News revealed Coke’s plans to launch the bottle in the UK this month back in July.

In a statement on this week’s launch, Jon Woods, country manager for Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland, said: “The PlantBottle package is a bottle we can all feel good about and is a significant step on our journey towards more sustainable packaging.

“It looks, feels and functions just like a normal plastic bottle, but it helps reduce our reliance on non-renewable resources.”

It is expected that more than 200m PlantBottles will be sold in the UK this year as part of a wider rollout that will see more than 5bn PlantBottles hit the market in 20 countries this year.

While the bottles look exactly the same as the drinks giant’s regular PET bottles, consumers will be able to identify the new bottles through on-pack messaging and a new logo.