A €12 million investment to bring returnable and resealable glass bottles to market in Austria in drive to Net Zero by 2040

Coca-Cola HBC has opened a new high-speed returnable glass bottling line (RGB) at its plant in Edelstal, Austria.

The milestone €12 million investment from Coca-Cola HBC was supported by a €4 million grant from the Austrian government as part of its fund for beverage companies and retailers to enable a true circular economy for packaging.

The new line, which is more water and energy efficient, will produce an innovative 400ml returnable and resealable glass bottle for the Austrian market. This is a first across Coca-Cola HBC’s 29 markets and is aimed at the on-the-go market and at-home consumption.

The investment is part of Coca-Cola HBC’s plan to achieve net zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2040

The company has already reduced Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 30% in the last twelve years. As packaging accounts for 34% of Scope 3 emissions in Coca-Cola HBC’s total supply chain, it is a key component of the company’s carbon emissions reduction pathway.

Returnable and resealable glass bottles: relentless focus on customer and consumer demand drives innovation

The new line significantly expands the range of returnable products in the Coca-Cola HBC portfolio to include Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in a 400ml glass bottle for at-home and on-the-go consumption.

Consumers can also buy Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Fanta Orange and Sprite in 1-litre returnable glass bottles. The universal 1-litre bottle design for different sparkling soft drink brands helps simplify production and logistics and reduces the sorting and reverse logistics in the market.

This expansion of returnable packaging is in response to growing consumer demand for returnable packaging solutions in Austria, where 62% of consumers value sustainability when they are selecting products. *

Expanding this packaging type also helps customers meet quotas for returnable packaging in retail, which are due to be introduced by 2024.  

Coca-Cola HBC is a first mover in sustainability and Austria is at the forefront

Coca-Cola HBC Austria is a first mover when it comes to expanding reusable packaging and minimising plastic across Coca-Cola HBC’s markets. Other developments include the following:

• Piloting Compact Freestyle® drinks dispensing machines. These offer consumers packaging-free options of 40 beverage choices with up to 70% less emissions compared to PET**.
• Austria is one of the first Coca-Cola HBC markets to transition to 100% recycled PET bottles for products produced locally for sale in Austria. It has also introduced KeelClipTM, a solution that replaces shrink wrap packaging with cardboard for multipack cans.

KeelClipTM is now live in all 22 EU markets, saving approximately 2,600 tonnes of plastic from our supply chain in 2022. Coca-Cola HBC is also piloting other innovations aimed at removing plastic film.