Coca-Cola Invites Retailers to Give it Back

The Coca-Cola Company is stepping up its efforts as a global leader in sustainability.

It recently introduced its eco-friendly PlantBottle in the US, starting with its Odwalla and Dasani brands. And now, on the cusp of Earth Day, it's asking its US retailers to go green by using its environmentally friendly "Give It Back" racks.

The corrugated racks are designed to be easily recycled at retail outlets with onsite corrugate recycling capabilities, or bottlers can return them to a Coca-Cola facility for recycling via Coca-Cola delivery trucks.

OK, it may not sound sexy, but it's an industry first.

Coca-Cola's free-standing, 100% recyclable display racks are aimed at convenience and grocery stores, and helps the company "close the loop" on an eco-system that gets closer to its sustainability goals.

"By creating a 100% recyclable merchandise display rack, Coca-Cola is asking grocery and convenience stores to join our sustainability efforts by returning or recycling our racks, just like we ask consumers to return or recycle our product packaging," says Gary Wygant, VP Business Development, Coca-Cola Recycling, in a press release.

The company has marked 2020 as the year it wants to achieve industry leadership and stewardship in packaging, and these retail merchandise display racks are a significant part of that goal.

"These new racks are a great example of how we can find innovative ways to make our equipment both sustainable and part of the shopping experience. With the Give It Back rack, we're helping people feel good about their purchasing decisions as we work toward our overall sustainability goals," adds Bruce Karas, Director, Sustainability and Environment, Coca-Cola Refreshments.

In a recent speech, Coca-Cola chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent commented, “As the world continues to prosper... as the global middle class continues to expand... as people continue to migrate to urban centers and lead highly mobile lifestyles — we feel very good about the opportunities to provide the world with new moments of pleasure... for cents at a time... billions of times each day."

In a world struggling to reboot and rebalance, those billions of moments of pleasure now include efforts to give something back to Mother Nature.