COCA-COLA
Follow-up: Stake in Continuum Recycling joint venture with ECO Plastics also goes to Aurelius investment fund / Part of larger goal to quit recycling activities?
The sale of PET recycler ECO Plastics (Hemswell, Lincolnshire / UK; www.ecoplasticsltd.com) to German investment fund Aurelius (Munich; www.aureliusinvest.de) also has repercussions for the former’s Continuum Recycling joint venture with Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE, Uxbridge, Middlesex / UK; www.cokecce.co.uk), which first began operations in 2012 (see Plasteurope.com of 17.05.2012). Rather than hang on to its 33% stake in the jv, which can recycle 40,000 t/y of PET, CCE said it had “agreed not to continue with the joint venture, Continuum Recycling. In return, CCE has entered into a long-term agreement to source recycled PET from ECO Plastics.”
In response to a Plasteurope.com query, a company spokesman said, “This new arrangement will ensure that CCE continues to use a minimum of 25% rPET in our plastic bottles in Great Britain, allowing us to deliver on our commitments to set the standard for sustainable packaging.”
It is not clear whether the move is part of a wider group strategy to exit its recycling activities. In November, a number of US media had reported that CCE parent The Coca-Cola Company (Atlanta, Georgia / USA; www.coca-colacompany.com) had decided to shut down its recycling division, and in future would work with external suppliers to source its rPET.
Indeed, the drinks giant’s foray into recycling has had mixed results. The company invested a lot on a PET bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina / USA (see Plasteurope.com of 19.09.2007), which was shuttered just two years after it first started operations in 2009.
In its latest “2013/2014 Sustainability Report”, issued in October, Coca-Cola announced that it would likely fail to meet its goal of sourcing 25% of PET used in its bottles from recycled or renewable materials by 2015 (for details, see Plasteurope.com of 13.10.2014). Its decision to close Coca-Cola Recycling has nothing to do with its commitment to using recyclable materials, the company told US media. “We are restructuring how we procure recyclable materials and will focus on developing our sources of supply.”
In response to a Plasteurope.com query, a company spokesman said, “This new arrangement will ensure that CCE continues to use a minimum of 25% rPET in our plastic bottles in Great Britain, allowing us to deliver on our commitments to set the standard for sustainable packaging.”
It is not clear whether the move is part of a wider group strategy to exit its recycling activities. In November, a number of US media had reported that CCE parent The Coca-Cola Company (Atlanta, Georgia / USA; www.coca-colacompany.com) had decided to shut down its recycling division, and in future would work with external suppliers to source its rPET.
Indeed, the drinks giant’s foray into recycling has had mixed results. The company invested a lot on a PET bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina / USA (see Plasteurope.com of 19.09.2007), which was shuttered just two years after it first started operations in 2009.
In its latest “2013/2014 Sustainability Report”, issued in October, Coca-Cola announced that it would likely fail to meet its goal of sourcing 25% of PET used in its bottles from recycled or renewable materials by 2015 (for details, see Plasteurope.com of 13.10.2014). Its decision to close Coca-Cola Recycling has nothing to do with its commitment to using recyclable materials, the company told US media. “We are restructuring how we procure recyclable materials and will focus on developing our sources of supply.”
16.12.2014 Plasteurope.com [230001-0]
Published on 16.12.2014