Coca-Cola pledges $38m towards recycling initiatives in Africa
Coca-Cola Africa has committed to investing $38million (more than half a billion rand) over three years to stimulate recycling industries across Southern and Eastern Africa, and also announced its new PET bottle made entirely out of previously used plastic.
Announcing the news at the Global Citizen Mandela 100 Festival, Maserame Mouyeme, director: public affairs, communications and sustainability at Coca-Cola Southern & East Africa said that the system investment will create more than 19,000 income opportunities, many of them for women.
As part of The Coca-Cola Company's global vision, World Without Waste, it plans to make all primary packaging 100% recyclable and create packaging that is made from at least 50% recycled material by 2030. "We acknowledge the harm that packaging, in particular plastic, can do to our environment. So as part of our World Without Waste strategy by 2030 for every bottle or can that we sell globally, we will take one back so that it has more than one life,” Mouyeme said.
The company also announced the launch of a new 500ml Bonaqua PET bottle that will be made from 100% recycled PET which will be available from March 2019.
Encouraging a waste-free festival
To kick-start the drive towards responsible consumerism and eco-friendly values, the company embarked on an initiative to create a waste-free Mandela 100 Festival, led by the Bonaqua brand.
Fans at the concert were encouraged to collect, drop their plastic bottles and cups at designated zones, and swop them for swag - such as cardboard speakers, to wooden sunglasses, wallets made from recycled materials and sets of bamboo straws.
More than 150,000 plastic cups and bottles were collected at the concert – and all of these will be used to make new Bonaqua bottles that will be on the shelves in March 2019.
In the lead up to the concert, The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners also led more than 14 waste cleanups across South Africa as part of its collaboration with the Global Citizen Movement, collecting thousands of bags of waste.
“Let’s keep recycling. Let’s do our part as global citizens to create an Africa without waste,” Mouyeme urged.
