Beverage supplier Coca-Cola Co. announced May 14 it will begin using a new bottle containing 25% renewable resource content, starting with some of its water brands, later this year.  Calling it the PlantBottle, the company says it avoids some of the concerns about other bioplastics’ inability to be recycled as part of standard PET recycling streams. Such concerns have hindered the use of polylactic acid and other bioplastics in beverage packaging (as reported earlier here), even though reports have indicated that these bottles could be effectively removed from the stream (as reported here). 

Coca-Cola reports the new bottles are made from a blend of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the incumbent bottle material, and up to 30% plant-based materials, with these latter materials derived from sugar cane and molasses, a by-product of sugar production. According to the company, the bottles not only do not disturb the recycling scheme but also can be recycled and reused.

Coca-Cola North America will pilot the PlantBottle with Dasani still water as well as sparkling brands in select markets later this year and with the vitaminwater brand in 2010.  

As reported by MPW here, earlier this year Coca-Cola opened the world's largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Spartanburg, SC with annual recycling capacity of about 100 million pounds of recycled PET. —[email protected]