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Setting the Record Straight:
Plastic
(PET) Soda Bottle Recycling |
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The Coca Cola Company published a document
titled "Setting the Record Straight: PET Recycling" designed
to "help associates to better understand this issue". The
document is filled with misinformation about PET recycling in the
U.S. and fails to acknowledge that the container deposit system or
'bottle bill' is the system that is collecting most of the PET soda
bottles for recycling. In fact, the bottle bill is not even mentioned
in the section "Where can I recycle my PET bottles?" The following questions were posed in Coke's document.
Coke's answers are on the left. CRI's answers are on the right. |
Are PET plastic bottles recyclable?
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Coke's answer
We are currently using packaging containing Recycled
PET in a number of U.S. markets, and we believe our use of recycled-content
PET will expand over time. (NOTE: In April Coke announced
that it will use 10% recycled content in 25% of its PET bottles.) |
CRI's answer
Yes, but in 1998 nearly 2 out of 3 PET soda bottles
(15 billion) were NOT recycled. There are many companies that could
have recycled those bottles into new bottles, or fibers for carpets
and clothing and a variety of other products. |
Where can I recycle my PET plastic bottles?
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Coke's answer
More then 90% of the nation's 9,300 curbside programs
accept PET bottles. A majority of dropoff systems collect
PET. |
CRI's answer
Curbside programs and dropoff centers are two
ways to recycle PET bottles. Another way is through the bottle
bill. Most of the PET soda bottles recycled in the U.S. are
recovered through container deposit systems or bottle bills in
ten states. (CA, CT, IA, OR, ME, MA, MI, NY, VT and DE) |
Does Coca-Cola use
recycled PET in
its soda
bottles?
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Coke's answer
We are currently using packaging containing Recycled
PET in a number of U.S. markets, and we believe our use of recycled-content
PET will expand over time. (NOTE: In April Coke announced
that it will use 10% recycled content in 25% of its PET bottles.) |
CRI's answer
In April 2000 Coke announced that they would 10%
recycled content in 25% of their plastic soda bottles. That
amounts to 2.5% or a fraction of the 25% they used in 1993. In
April 199, Steve Apotheker, editor of Plastics Recycling Update
estimated that "adding 25% PET PCR would reduce Coke and Pepsi's
profits by less than 0.5%." |
What are PET bottles recycled into?
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Coke's answer
Fiberfill, carpets, clothing, automotive parts
and industrial strapping, sheet and film. |
CRI's answer
There are many products made from PET bottles. Millions
of pounds of PET bottles are made into new plastic bottles each
year. |
Did Coca-Cola break a promise
to use recycled
content PET?
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Coke's answer
No. In 1991 they system introduced the first
Plastic soft drink bottles with recycled content but was forced
to stop after two years due to sustainability issues. We
conducted a test and the results of that test were unsustainable. |
CRI's answer
Coke 'pledged' in 1990 to use recycled content
in their soda bottles. In 1994, they stopped using recycled
content in their plastic bottles. Just one year earlier Coke
introduced the 20-ounce plastic contour bottle that has proven
to be an enormously profitable bottle for Coke and its bottlers. |
How Does Coke support recycling?
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Coke's answer
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Recycled PET bottle research
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Buy products made with recycled content
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Sponsor America Recycles Day
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Sponsor Campus Recycling Series
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Support Keep America Beautiful
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Buy Recycled Business Alliance
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Sponsor CMC's Coastal Cleanup
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Display "Please Recycle" on company Containers
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Bottle makers are member of NAPCOR
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Sponsor of Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeepers
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CRI's answer
Coke has spent millions of dollars in their efforts
to destroy the single most successful soft drink container recycling
program in the nation - the bottle bill. Coke opposes new
bottle bills and expansion of existing bottle bills and works to
repeal bottle bills in Iowa, Oregon, Connecticut and Massachusetts,
New York, Michigan and Columbia, Missouri. |
Does the blue DASANI bottle harm recycling?
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Coke's answer
No. Major recyclers confirmed no problems
with DASANI blue and continue to confirm these facts. |
CRI's answer
The blue DASANI bottle is not a problem as long
as it remains a small percentage of total PET collected. High
quantities, however, could cause contamination of PET supplies. |
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