As the world continuously works towards achieving a clean and waste-free environment, Coca-Cola Beverage Africa Uganda has heightened efforts in this direction.
Among the taken Bold steps, the apparently leading beverage company, yesterday unveiled their new clear PET bottle for their iconic soft drink Sprite
The iconic sparkling lemon-lime flavored soft drink previously green, had been known for its iconic Color bottle since its launch in 1962 marking a 60-year stride in the market.
Speaking during the launch at the company headquarters in Namanve, Melkamu Abebe, the General Manager of Coca Cola Beverage Africa Uganda said that the move marked a major milestone in its growth and sustainability in various markets and that the people in Uganda could now enjoy a much better taste of their favorite sparkling lemon-lime drink knowing their bottle can be easily recycled and made into new items.
He added that the shift from the green bottle to clear PET was a significant step in driving their sustainability agenda thus a key element to their business.
“We know that our vision for a World Without Waste is ambitious and can be challenging but together with our partners, however, we are committed to the course. This move also allows us to work with partners in the recycling industry and with waste collectors and aggregators to achieve more value for our recyclable plastics,” Abebe said.
“The World Without Waste” strategy represents The Coca-Cola Company’s commitment to doing business sustainably which includes addressing the packaging waste challenge in addition to economic empowerment as it will contribute to enhanced income for waste reclaimers in Uganda who depend on collecting and selling packaging waste for a living,” he said
Isaac Sekasi the Director of Business Development and Commercialization said that it was extremely fundamental that in the true spirit of being a brand that has always been refrefreshingly different take the bold step towards sustainable development goals and that the business story is conceptualized into plastic recycling and conserving the environment.
“I think the fundamental issue number two is that Sprite is taking a bold step to move into a very sustainable brand to conserve the environment,” he said
Sekasi added that in terms of taste brand, Sprite has been one of those products that have been evolving but has always been consistently different depending on the consumer preference and that the better taste serves this foundation better.
“I am very confident about the new taste of sprite because I can tell you that sprite is now the third most consumed soda in the world, so it is extremely important to us to say that we are very happy and confident about the changes in the taste of this bran,”
He said that all know the plastic problem around the world and that as the coca-cola beverage Africa in Uganda they have taken the lead and have taken further steps to make the process easier complementing the big story behind sprite innovation.
Clear PET can be made into a wide range of new products including pillow and duvet inners as well as into new bottles, making it more valuable than the green PET which had limited uses.
Samuel Kangave the Plant Manager Recycling at Plastic Recycling Industries (PRI), a plant that has been in existence for over 15 years collecting the plastic wastes and a sister branch to the coca-cola company, said they had made remarkable strides, especially in the past three years ensuring that deliver there ambitious goal of collecting 100% of the bottles that were taken to the field and that in 2009 they collected 15000 tons equivalent to 250million bottles
Kangave said the PRI was a very important equation in the entire aspect of achieving the sustainability goals since every bottle that is taken outside is followed up, collected, and recycled so that it could be reused.
“It is very important to recover and recycle plastic because plastics take long to degrade, therefore recycling helps in reusage and also provides employment to people especially women that are earning a livelihood out of this business,” he said.
Adding, however, with different colors their task as the PRI had been more solicited since it presented a lot of challenges in processing taking over 2/3 hours when changing the green bottle to a clear bottle.
“When we reduce the number of colors that we have in the system it means that we shall be able to achieve more, spare some time by focusing on the bottles of the same color and thus collect more volume and recycle more thus a very great initiative and comes without of millage,”
Kangave also notes that with the transition, enhancement of labor duties will be achieved since the people who collect these bottles will have an advantage since the volume of bottles in different colors would have reduced hence fourth saving the service time as well.
With over 200 footprints in countries across the globe including Africa’s South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Kenya, the Pearl will be joining the fifth spot as the new clear PET is introduced to the African market and remains in the hands of Ugandans to dispose of the waste responsibly.
