Coca-Cola's rPET Bottle, a Big Step in Indonesia's Circular Economy

Friday, June 16, 2023, marks an important milestone for Coca-Cola Indonesia. It was the launch day of Coca-Cola bottles made from 100 percent recycled PET plastic (rPET)—excluding caps and labels. The rPET packaging is now available for Coca-Cola Trademark brands like Fanta, Sprite in 390ml, and Sprite Waterlymon in 425ml.

The launch of Coca-Cola rPET bottles is an implementation of Coca-Cola's global (The Coca-Cola Company) World Without Waste mission, which is a form of corporate responsibility in helping to solve plastic waste problems globally by implementing a circular economy. 

Circular economy is believed to be one of the ways to reduce post-consumer packaging waste through the continuous use of resources or products produced by the company. In order to implement the World Without Waste program, the Coca-Cola Company focuses on design, collection, and partnership.

Coca-Cola pays great attention to product packaging design. Director of Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability of PT Coca-Cola Indonesia, Triyono Prijosoesilo, gave an example of the replacement of green Sprite packaging bottles to clear color, because when recycled, the results of clear plastic bottles can be applied to a variety of new products.

The above process is part of Coca-Cola's long journey of design efforts and now the company is launching rPET bottles made from 100 percent recycled plastic-excluding caps and labels. 

"This is the culmination of our journey, Coca-Cola Indonesia. Finally we can introduce the results of (waste) bottles that have been collected, processed, and can finally be turned into new bottles," Tri said at the launch of Coca-Cola's rPET bottle packaging at Gandaria City, Jakarta.

The production of 100 percent recycled rPET bottles is made locally at the Amandina Bumi Nusantara factory in Cikarang, Bekasi, which was inaugurated in February 2023. Tri explained that the establishment of the first rPET recycling plant in ASEAN is the result of a partnership between Coca-Cola Europacific Partner Indonesia and Dynapack Asia, and in collaboration with Mahija Parahita Nusantara, a non-profit social foundation established by the two organizations.

Mahija is in charge of providing raw materials for the recycling facility, as well as mobilizing various communities in collecting waste bottles. "Interestingly, Coca-Cola globally applies the implementation of the pillars of design, collection, and partnership, according to the cultural background of each country," Tri said.

Waste pickers are an important part of Mahija's collection process in Indonesia. "And we call them Recycling Heroes, because they are the real heroes of the circular economy," said Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Indonesia & Papua New Guinea VP of Public Affairs, Communications, and Sustainability, Lucia Karina.

The involvement of scavengers, Karina continued, is a transformation of the collection value chain to simplify the recycling process. Previously, collection was done through waste banks. However, this process has not been properly implemented in local government policies, so Mahija involves Recycling Heroes. 

"The results of this collection are sent to a factory in Bekasi to be recycled so that they become 100 percent recycled rPET bottles. This is what is called Closed-Loop Circular Economy, meaning it becomes a product again, bottle to bottle," said Karina.

In addition, the presence of Recycling Heroes is also a way for Coca-Cola Indonesia and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners to explore local wisdom according to local customs. Of course, the involvement of waste pickers as recycling heroes gets the company's full attention.

In addition to Tri and Karina, the Coca-Cola rPET bottle launch event also presented speakers Managing Director of Amandina Bumi Nusantara, Suharji Gasali, and Sustainability and Partnership Director, ASEAN and South Pacific, The Coca-Cola Company, Kirsten van Zandwijk.

Being the keynote speaker, Kirsten highly appreciated the breakthrough of CCEP and Coca-Cola Indonesia. "Congratulations to the team that has played a big role in this. This is the result of extraordinary work," she said.