Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa, World Without Waste in Soweto
Author: info@klassikdigital.co.za
Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) will partner with the City of Joburg (COJ) and Pikitup for the annual Clean-Up and Recycle SA Week from 11-16 September 2023.
Pirtunia Mkhabela – Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Manager, said that tackling the global plastic waste crisis requires cross-sector collaboration and alignment on common principles and targets; working with different stakeholders at a regional and local level.
“This includes partnering with local governments and communities to strengthen recycling infrastructure and boost collection rates.”
CCBSA is working with municipalities and community organisations, recognising that as a plastic producer, it has a responsibility towards waste collection.
As part of the ongoing efforts towards realising its World Without Waste vision 2023, CCBSA and its partners will partake in clearing and rehabilitating an illegal dumping site for this community and planting trees for Arbor Day on Friday, 15 September at Dhlamini Hall, Koma road in Soweto.
Mkhabela said that partnerships are critical to change society’s attitude and behaviour towards responsible waste management and keeping South Africa’s communities and environment clean and safe.
“We are working in our communities to educate people on why and how to recycle through consumer campaigns such as this clean-up campaign, on-package messaging and more to create a healthier environment for all,” Mkhabela.
CCBSA is working towards these solutions to create a circular economy that benefits society and works for its business. CCBSA has set ambitious goals for its business, to take responsibility for its packaging across its lifecycle.
Coca-Cola World Without Waste vision 2023
CCBSA has committed to invest in its packaging, to help put an end to the plastic waste crisis, working in partnership with The Coca-Cola Company which launched a sustainable packaging initiative called World Without Waste in 2018.
CCBSA has the following goals:
• Help collect a bottle or can for everyone we sell by 2030
• Focus on making all our packaging 100% recyclable by 2025
• Have 50% recycled content in our packaging by 2030, and
• Make 25% of its packaging reusable by 2030
In 2021, Coca-Cola approved a R3-million grant and partnered with PET Recycling South Africa (PETCO) to support the national network of over 100 buy-back centres as part of efforts to keep PET (polyethylene terephthalate) packaging out of the environment and into recycling for reuse. PETCO is based on the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility and has been extended to three additional markets since its inception in South Africa and plans for further rollout to a total of eight markets.