Coca-Cola System, Romania's first beverage producer to implement recycled PET production unit

The Coca-Cola System in Romania, consisting of companies Coca-Cola Romania and bottler Coca-Cola HBC Romania, installed a PET flake contaminant removal unit at its plant in Ploiesti, the Group's second largest facility, thus acquiring unique capabilities to produce recycled PET (rPET) on its own, the company informed in a release on Wednesday.

The investment supports the transition of Coca-Cola System's entire PET packaging portfolio to 100% recycled PET (rPET) by providing a constant supply of food-grade recycled plastic. By transforming old packages into new ones, the investment contributes to creating a circular economy for packaging, with less carbon emissions, Agerpres reports.

The investment in this rPET production unit was approved to become operational concomitantly with the largest circular economy project ever implemented in Romania: the Deposit Return System, which will become operational at the end of the year. Through the DRS, beverage producers will have access to quality raw material to use in their packaging, said Coca-Cola HBC Romania general manager Jovan Radosavljevic.

In his turn, Coca-Cola Romania country manager Mark Docherty emphasized that the Group aims to produce a change for the better through everything that its activity means: the way in which the drinks are manufactured, the design of the packaging and its post-consumer phase.

In the last 5 years, the Coca-Cola System in Romania invested approximately one billion RON to improve and expand its production capacity. The installation of the new contaminant removal line follows a green investment of 55 million RON, of which 17.5 million RON in state aid. Since 2019, only the Dorna natural mineral water brand was available in rPET packaging, but starting this autumn, all the other brands, specifically Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes, Cappy, Cappy Pulpy and Fuzetea, will also be sold in bottles made from 100% recycled PET.

Leader of the local beverage industry, with 3 plants in Ploiesti, Timisoara and Poiana Negrii, Coca-Cola HBC Romania is an important contributor to the development of society and the local economy. The Coca-Cola HBC Romania team has an average of 1,500 employees.

According to the study on the Social and Economic Impact of the Coca-Cola System in Romania, based on 2022 financial data, the presence of this system on the local market generates an added value of 613 million euros, the equivalent of 0.21 percent of Romania's GDP.

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