TMCnet News
Coca-Cola goes green with bottle recycling plant(Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, SC) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 18--As a tent full of people took swigs of Coca-Cola in honor of what the beverage maker labeled an environmental milestone, Jeff Seabright, vice president of environment and water resources for the company, made a promise. "It took a lot of work and collaboration to get here today and, for us, it's a milestone, but we want to work very hard to leave the world a better place than we found it," Seabright said. Coca-Cola Co. illustrated its commitment to improving the sustainability of its beverage packaging on Wednesday, when the Atlanta-based company opened what is said to be the world's largest "bottle-to-bottle" recycling facility in Spartanburg County. At full capacity, the $60 million, 100,000-square-foot plant at 5396 N. Blackstock Road, will salvage 100 million pounds of food-grade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic for reuse each year, about half of the PET plastic Coca-Cola collected in 2008. And it will create about 100 jobs in the county. The new 30-acre Spartanburg plant is modeled after the first successful food-quality plastic recycling facility, opened in Mexico in 2005, and similar facilities in Switzerland, Austria and the Philippines. Its yearly production capacity will be equivalent to 2 billion 20-ounce bottles, and its processes will prevent the release of 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 10 years, which is comparable to removing 215,000 automobiles from the road, more than 70 percent of the vehicles that are insured in South Carolina. "Our goal is to recycle 100 percent of the bottles we introduce into a market," Seabright said. The Spartanburg plant, a joint venture between Coca-Cola and Spartanburg-based United Resource Recovery Corp. (URRC), also will be both energy and water efficient. "The processes pioneered by URRC will keep us from using one more gallon to produce 100 million pounds of PET than it would take to produce 10 million pounds of PET," said Carlos Gutierrez, president of URRC. Plastic bottles arrive at the plant in large rectangular bundles weighing up to 1,000 pounds each. The bundles are then broken apart, and the bottles are sorted as they pass through a series of conveyer belts and washing stations. Most of the process focuses on removing other materials, such as metal, bottle caps, glass and paper labels. The plastic is sorted by color, ground into flake, striped with sodium hydroxide, heated in a kiln and turned into chips. These chips are then sent out to Coca-Cola plants or sold to other companies to be reused in new bottles. The plastic must meet FDA requirements and Coca-Cola specifications for beverage containers. The plant is featured in Coca-Cola's multi-million dollar "Give it Back" marketing campaign, which was launched Tuesday night prior to the debut of Fox's "American Idol." S.C. Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor presented Gutierrez with a new state flag on behalf of Gov. Mark Sanford. "Commerce has enjoyed working with this company for years," Taylor said. "Today's announcement is a culmination of years of effort. It's remarkable." Coca-Cola's efforts met the expectations of at least one environmental watchdog group that has encouraged the company to take braver actions. Kate Krebs, director of sustainable resources for the Climate Group, a worldwide advocacy group for the prevention of climate change, said the real celebration will be in the years to come as the plant contributes to the environment. "To come and actually visit the plant and see the bottle go in and come out -- it's incredible," she said. "Every business no matter what it makes or sells has the opportunity to contribute to how our environment works. To see Coca-Cola take the issue of climate change head-on is wonderful." To see more of the Herald-Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.GoUpstate.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Herald-Journal, Spartanburg, S.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |