Packaging & Recycling

Packaging & Recycling

Coca-Cola HBC Austria believes in a sustainable packaging mix and exclusively uses recyclable or reusable packaging that protects our products and meets the needs of our consumers.


We are determined to pursue our vision of a world without waste.

We are aware that our packaging and its use are at the focus of the current discussion about plastic and plastic waste. Coca-Cola therefore relies on a constructive dialogue and sustainable goals and is committed to being part of the solution. Our ambitious global strategy for this is our vision of a "World Without Waste": By 2030, for every bottle or can that is brought onto the market, the equivalent is to be collected and recycled - worldwide. As part of the World Without Waste strategy, we fulfil our role as an innovation leader in packaging and are constantly working on optimizing existing packaging and finding packaging-free alternatives for our products.


Current packaging initiatives

With our innovations in the packaging sector, we are helping to strengthen the circular economy in Austria in 2023: The expansion of the PET portfolio to include 100% recycled PET and cardboard-based outer packaging as an alternative to plastic film are powerful measures that contribute to the collection and recycling of the important secondary raw material PET and to reducing emissions. With a new returnable glass line at the Edelstal production site, we are investing in the expansion of returnable capacities.

100%

recyclability
of materials used for bottles and cans

 

100%

recycled material
within the entire PET portfolio filled in Edelstal

70%

collection rate
for PET bottles in Austria

We are increasing our share of reusable packaging.

Coca-Cola HBC Austria currently successfully uses reusable glass bottles for the majority of our brands in the food service and hospitality sector. Refillable premix and postmix containers are available for dispensing systems. In addition, our brands Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola zero, Fanta, and Sprite as well as our Römerquelle mineral water are also available in returnable glass bottles in many domestic supermarkets. We would like to continuously expand this range - also with regard to the upcoming reusable quota.

Funded by the EU Funded by the EU

We took an important step in this direction in 2022 with the investment of around 12 million euros (co-funded by the European Union NextGenerationEU) in a new returnable glass bottling line in our production plant in Edelstal, which went into operation in 2023. With a filling speed of up to 50,000 bottles per hour, the capacities for the production of returnable glass bottles have been significantly increased. With the start of the new line, also the 0.4-liter returnable glass bottle for Austrian retailers has been produced at the site for the first time.


We turn bottles into bottles.

In order to close material cycles, we use a complex process to add high-quality PET regranulate to our new PET bottles. Since 2023, all PET bottles produced at our bottling plant in Edelstal have been made from 100% recycled PET.


Römerquelle 100% rPET portfolio Römerquelle 100% rPET portfolio

With our mineral water brand Römerquelle, we were able to set a milestone within the Austrian beverage industry in 2019: Since April, all Römerquelle PET bottles consist of 100% recycled PET.


We are decreasing the material percentage and increasing the recycling percentage.

Our consumers value light and practical bottles. Since April 2018, an even more compact Römerquelle PET bottle with a shortened bottleneck has been on the market. This bottle is up to 3.3 grams lighter per unit.  


Christian Strasser

“With a 70% collection rate for PET bottles, Austria holds an excellent place in international comparison. However, there is still room for improvement. We want to have every single PET bottle back. It is the only way for us to keep extremely valuable polyethylene terephthalate – PET – in the cycle for as long as possible, thus conserving resources for future generations.”

Christian Strasser Manager PET to PET

We help increase the collection rate.

Together with local partners, such as Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA), Coca-Cola continuously works towards increasing the collection and recycling rates. The recycling plant PET to PET in Müllendorf, founded by Coca-Cola HBC in cooperation with four other beverage producers, is a prime example of the success of these efforts. The collection of PET bottles is essential in order to feed the recycling process and create new PET bottles.

Find out more about PET to PET


RecycleMe-App RecycleMe-App

With the “RecycleMich” initiative, Coca-Cola Austria, together with its partner Reclay, was able to achieve a solidarity in the Austrian beverage industry with regard to the EU target of a 90% collection rate. The focus is on the RecycleMich app, which rewards correct collection and recycling with attractive prices and helps to increase awareness and commitment in the population.

You can find more about the RecycleMich initiative at: www.recyclemich.at

With the digital incentive system digi-Cycle, developed by Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA) and Saubermacher AG, and the Circular University project of ARA and Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), we have been backing further innovative solutions in support of separate waste collection since 2021.


We want to introduce even more packaging into the recycling loop. That's why we created digi-Cycle; an innovative solution built on a familiar system offering new incentives to increase waste separation. The positive effects are clear: more raw material recycled, less residual waste and littering with high cost-effectiveness.

Dr. Harald Hauke Board Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA)

Together we are supporting the further steps that will allow us with the introduction of the deposit system fo,r single-use beverage packaging to successfully start the new chapter by 2025.