Coca-Cola Debuts New Bottle Size, Recycled Packaging Strategy

The Coca-Cola Co. KO has introduced its first new bottle size in a decade and its first bottles from 100% recycled plastic material. 

Size Matters: The Atlanta-based company's new 13.2 ounce bottle will be introduced this month for the Coca-Cola Trademark line — the Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar and Coca-Cola Flavors — at retailers in select Northeast states plus California and Florida. Additional Coca-Cola brands will begin using the new bottle this summer in a nationwide rollout, while the Sprite brand will be sold in the new bottle size in select markets this month, with a nationwide rollout by the end of 2022.

The new 13.2 oz. bottle is smaller than the retail staple 20 oz. bottle and slightly larger than the 12 oz. aluminum can used by the company. In a press statement, Coca-Cola said the new bottle is "a more sippable package and reduces the use of new plastic."

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A Different Plastic: The new 13.2 oz. bottle is also the company's first made from 100% rPET. The company is also planning to transition the 20 oz. Coca-Cola Trademark line to this packaging this month for products sold in New York and California, with a Texas rollout planned for the spring.

The recyclable bottles will also be used for the Dasani and Smartwater brands later in the year.

Coca-Cola noted that the bottles' caps and labels are not made from recyclable materials, although the caps and labels will include messaging to encourage consumers to recycle the empty bottles. Coke's Plastic Strategy: The new bottles are part of the company's 2018 World Without Waste pledge to collect and recycle the equivalent of a bottle or can for every one the company sells by 2030, to make 100% of packaging recyclable by 2025 and to use 50% recycled material in bottles and cans by 2030.

"Given our scale and resources, we realize our unique opportunity and clear responsibility to make a positive difference in the global plastic crisis, bringing us closer to our ambitious World Without Waste goals," said Alpa Sutaria, vice president and general manager for sustainability in the North America Operating Unit of the Coca-Cola Co.

"Plastic is a valuable packaging resource and these innovations in the U.S. represent meaningful action that focus not just on what goes into the bottles, but on innovation of the bottles themselves."

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