Coca-Cola reveals KeelClip packaging investment
Coca-Cola and its strategic bottling partners Coca-Cola HBC and Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) have revealed that they will begin rolling out the product, an innovative, minimalist paperboard, on multipack cans across Europe.
The three partners have worked closely with Graphic Packaging International – developer of the KeelClip technology – to bring it to market. This new type of packaging not only replaces the plastic wrap, but also minimises the amount of paper/card required.
As part of this initiative, Coca-Cola HBC will remove shrinkwrap from all its can multipacks in all European Union markets by the end of 2021.
Investment
In total, the company will invest €15m in KeelClip and will begin the rollout in Ireland and Poland early next year, followed by Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Romania later in 2020.
All of Coca-Cola HBC’s European Union markets will launch the solution by the end of 2021.
According to the firm, it will save 2,000t of plastic and 3,000t of CO2 annually.
The KeelClip will be used on all can multipacks of up to eight cans, larger can multi-packs will be bound by a carton pack.
The move, representing a first for the non-alcohol ready-to-drink industry, supports the wider firm’s commitment to sustainable packaging solutions and reducing its environmental impact as it moves towards its global goals for the World Without Waste initiative.
11,000t
CCEP committed in October to removing all unnecessary or hard-to-recycle plastic from its portfolio, avoiding the use of more than 11,000t of virgin plastic a year across the countries where it operates.
“KeelClip is our latest investment in innovative, sustainable packaging solutions,” said Marcel Martin, Coca-Cola group supply chain director.
“Alongside the four water brands we introduced this year in 100% recycled PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottles, the increased use of recycled PET and continued lightweighting across the portfolio, KeelClip is another demonstration of our commitment to delivering our World Without Waste goals.”
Joe Franses, vice president, sustainability at CCEP added: “Innovation is a key principle of our sustainable packaging work and the application of this fully recyclable paperboard KeelClip is another example of how we are delivering on our commitment to remove all unnecessary and hard-to-recycle single-use plastic from our products.”