Coca-Cola remodels bottle for sustainable future

A global beverage maker, Coca-Cola Nigeria is redefining and remodeling its products’ bottles to reset the bar on waste disposal.

This initiative is in the quest to ensure the environmental well-being of its consumers through innovative processes that tackle plastic bottle waste pollution for sustainability.  

Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, the Director of Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability at Coca-Cola Nigeria, said the modification of the products’ bottles was imperative based on the overwhelming negative impact of plastic bottles in the environment when not properly disposed for recycling. She stated this at the Annual System Beach Cleanup exercise held in Lagos.

The director of public affairs explained that the initiative is geared towards curtailing the negative effects of plastic bottle waste pollution on the environment, hence the need for the change to make its disposal easier for consumers.

“Coke bottle container was so thick that people used it to do all kinds of things, and we took action. We are introducing light plastic. It takes less space and you give in for recycling. Most times people say Coca-Cola is the highest polluter because people are choosing our beverages. It is simply because we want to use light plastic so that after you use it, you can just shrink it with your hands,” she said.

Onyemelukwe affirmed that Coca-Cola Nigeria wants to ensure that its packaging materials do not end up in the environment and that they do not commit nuisance.

In another development, Coca-Cola in partnership with the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), the Food Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) and partner NGOs also jointly cleaned up some beaches in Lagos, all in a bid to collaboratively ensure a world without waste. Mopping out post-consumer wastes for a more sustainable business and better shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities, and the planet has been Coca-Cola’s vision statement since 137 years ago.