Coca-Cola Puts a Cap on Fake Green Plastic Bag Commercial (VIDEO)

Coca-Cola has been busy debunking a viral video hoax (above) that it was planning to roll out globally a biodegradable plastic bag packaging shaped like its iconic contour bottle now being tested with cash-conscious consumers in Central and South America. Sorry, folks — no such test, no such plans, at least that it would confirm.

Outlets including Beverage Daily reported and then corrected, fooled by a supposed statement from the company that the new bottle-shaped bag delivers "the full Coca-Cola brand experience, without costing the consumer a cent more. They get greater value from their purchase, and we recover our famous branding, keeping Coca-Cola distinguished from all the other drinks."

An actual statement from the company clarified that the video is hoax, noting: "The company currently distributes Coca-Cola in Central America countries in cans, plastic PET and glass. While Coca-Cola is always looking for new and better ways of satisfying customer demand, we do not comment on potential new ideas until a decision about their implementation is real."

One sustainable move it could confirm this week: a new system to purify and re-use industrial-process water that could improve the company's water-use efficiency by up to 35 percent, "contribute to growth and local economic development opportunities, further support local communities, and reduce its water footprint," as the company said in a press release.

Coca-Cola's new commercial-scale, first-of-its kind beverage-process water-recovery system ends up with water that meets or exceeds drinking-water standards for use in non-product activities such as bottle washing. It re-uses rather than treats and discharges the water used in its bottling facilities.

"Because responsible water management is at the heart of a sustainable future, overcoming today's water challenges calls for extraordinary action," said Bea Perez, Coke's chief sustainability officer.

Coke is deciding when and where to roll out the process at its plants beginning next year. Implemented across all of Coke's bottling plants, the new system could save as much as 100 billion liters of water annually at the company. Coca-Cola said it also hopes to "set precedent" for the rest of the industry.