Technological watch

Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) has produced carbonated soft drink bottles using 100% recycled plastic, following the use of equivalent materials for its still beverages.The Asia-specific region bottler of non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages said that its single-use plastic bottles will be produced using fully recycled materials by the end of 2019.Earlier this year, CCA and Coca-Cola Australia announced that 70% of the plastic bottles it uses in Australia will be made from recycled materials by 2020. This decreases the amount of virgin plastic its bottles contain by an estimated 10,000t a year.This will double the company’s use of recycled plastic across its beverage range of all small packages of 600ml and under for brands such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and Mount Franklin, and in 750ml-sized bottles of Pump.
CCA managing director Alison Watkins said: “We think every beverage container should be recycled and live again, not become waste in our marine and land environment.
“But pressure inside a soft drink bottle is up to 100psi, or around three times the pressure in a car tyre. So the bottle for carbonated drinks needs to be much stronger than for still beverages, and that’s been an obstacle in using 100% recycled materials for these types of drinks.“I’m pleased to say we’ve overcome this challenge through innovation and design, and we’re now the first in Australia to make 100% recycled plastic bottles for carbonated beverages.”CCA has halted distribution of plastic straws and is working with Keep Australia Beautiful to target litter hotspots across the country.The company’s Mount Franklin Still range also began to use 100% recycled plastics last year.CCA operates in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoa.The Coca-Cola Company has set out a global-scale goal to collect and recycle as many bottles and cans as it manufactures each year by 2030.