The move comes as part of the latest stage of trials funded by the Waste and Resources Action Programme, and follows similar work being undertaken with Marks and Spencer.
Various Coca Cola Enterprise Ltd products – including 500ml diet Coke bottles – will be sold including a 25% recycled material content.
Boots will be using the reprocessed material in its “Ingredients” range, which is being packaged in bottles with a 30% content.
Dr Liz Goodwin, director of materials for WRAP, said: “We are delighted to be working with Boots and CCE on these high profile ranges. The M&S; trials have already proved very encouraging and these latest projects will provide further valuable results to fuel the growing interest being shown by retailers and consumers in the use of recycled plastic in retail packaging.”
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has been working with several of their existing suppliers to develop different types of recycled PET (including flake and pellet). Around 1,000 tonnes of recycled plastic will be used in the current trial.
Martin Rodgers, recycled PET products manager at Coca-Cola Enterprise, said: “We are excited about this project and we anticipate that over 150 million 500ml bottles will be manufactured during the course of this trial. We will evaluate the impact of different combinations of virgin and recycled PET and assess the viability of longer-term usage.”
Boots
Boots has been working to test recycled PET for use in packaging in the non-food sector with Closed Loop London, the company that is also working with Marks and Spencer to use recycled PET in “Food2Go” products (see letsrecycle.com story).
Steve Owen, polymers consultant for Boots, said: “Driving forward the use of recycled plastics in the UK is consistent with our approach to Corporate Social Responsibility. We are very positive about the trial and it could open up opportunities in more toiletry ranges and other packaging sectors in the future.
WRAP has said that it hopes these trials will further increase retailer awareness of the possibility of using recycled plastic in their packaging.
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Closed Loop London hopes to provide recovered plastics for Boots products once its planned reprocessing plant is up and running in Dagenham. Closed Loop London could also be involved in providing plastic for Coca-Cola, once the trials are completed in March.
Hugh Carr-Harris, chief executive of London Closed Loop, said: “We hope that once Boots sees how successful this scheme is the company will begin to use recycled material in its food and medicine ranges.”
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