Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) plans to sell three of its beverage brands in bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET) as part of its plastic packaging goal.

Starting next year, the company’s Honest, GLACÉAU Smartwater and Chaudfontaine brands will be packaged in 100% recycled bottles.

The environmentally-friendly move is expected to remove 9,000t of virgin plastic from the beverage industry each year.

CCEP and the Coca-Cola Company also aim to use at least 50% recycled plastic in PET bottles across Western Europe by 2025.

As part of the proposed revisions, the packaging of Coca-Cola’s Sprite brand will change from a green PET bottle to a clear PET pack to enable easier recycling, CCEP noted.

Coca-Cola Western Europe technical and supply chain director Bruno van Gompel said: “This is a significant step for our business. From 2020, wherever you buy these brands in our Western European markets, you will find them in a bottle that is entirely made from recycled plastic. This is a clear signal of our ambition – we aim to meet and exceed our target of using 50% rPET across our total portfolio by 2025.

“Both Honest and GLACÉAU Smartwater have a huge following in the US, whilst being relatively young brands in Europe. We have ambitious growth plans for both of these brands, as we continue to broaden our portfolio to offer people different drinks to meet changing tastes and lifestyles – and we want to grow them sustainably.”

In support of the rPET target, CCEP reached an agreement with enhanced recycling technology provider Loop Industries in November last year for the supply of 100% rPET plastic.

The company stated that this deal will improve the availability of food-grade recycled PET for use in its bottles.

The technology supports the production of PET from low-value plastic waste that could not be used previously due to recycling obstacles.