Bottler Coca-Cola HBC has invested over €30 million in the Gaglianico plant in Italy for the production of recycled PET (rPET) bottles.
The factory, which had been out of use for eight years, was recovered and reconverted into a facility capable of transforming up to 30,000 tonnes of PET per year into new preforms in 100% recycled PET to meet the company's beverage bottling needs.
The site covers a total area of 18,000 square metres and is 100% powered by electricity from renewable sources.
It performs 4,700 quality checks per day and according to Coca-Cola HBC, it is one of the first in Italy and the world to use some of the most advanced technologies.
Recyclable Plastics
PET is one of the 100% recyclable plastics for food packaging that does not lose its basic properties during recycling and therefore reduces the need to produce additional virgin plastic material.
Furthermore, according to a study commissioned from IFEU and validated by Eco3, referring to the 0.66L format, the use of recycled PET also has positive implications in terms of CO2 emissions.
Specifically, the lower energy demand of the technology installed in Gaglianico, together with the use of 100% electricity from renewable sources, lead to a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions in the production of the rPET preform, compared to the production of the same preform in virgin PET in another plant.
Sustainability Measures
The Coca-Cola HBC Group has invested over €100 million in various sustainability measures in Italy during the last decade alone.
The plant in Gaglianico is a further confirmation of the importance of Italy’s Piedmont region for Coca-Cola HBC Group, which is already present in this region with the plant in Roccaforte di Mondovì (Cn) where Lurisia waters are bottled, the bottler added.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest packaging and design news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
