Bottled water brand mixes RPET and bioplastic

Coca-Cola will use recycled PET and plant-derived plastic in a Dasani water bottle, creating a package known as the “HybridBottle.” The move is one of several recycling-related changes being rolled out.

The beverage giant on Aug. 13 announced the packaging shifts for the Dasani brand, which is among the largest water brands in the U.S.

PlantBottle, which incorporates up to 30% plant-derived PET, has been used in a number of Coca-Cola beverages since its introduction in 2009. The company describes PlantBottle as the “first-ever fully recyclable PET plastic beverage bottle made partially from plants.”

Now, the company is mixing the plant-based plastic with recycled PET in a 1-to-1 ratio to create “HybridBottle.”

The development is part of an effort to “increase the use of recycled and renewable materials in the United States while ensuring that all Dasani bottles continue to be fully recyclable,” the company wrote.

This offering will be rolled out nationally in Dasani’s 20-ounce bottles in mid-2020.

Other recent Dasani announcements include:

• The company will continue its packaging lightweighting across all Dasani products, “to support overall efforts to reduce the amount of virgin PET plastic procured by the Coca-Cola system,” according to the release.
• Coca-Cola will switch Dasani packaging from plastic to aluminum. This will begin in the Northeast in the coming months, and aluminum cans will be rolled out into other markets next year. Additionally, Dasani will begin using aluminum bottles in some products in mid-2020.
• Coca-Cola will use the How2Recycle label on all its Dasani packaging beginning this fall.

Coca-Cola framed the developments as part of its wider goal to make its bottles and cans with an average of 50% recycled material by 2030.

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