Brand & Business: Coca-Cola rolls out “Recycle Me” message on its package labels across ASEAN to encourage consumers to help recycle

SINGAPORE — Coca-Cola is rolling out a bold ‘Recycle Me’ message on its package labels across all its brands and products in ASEAN designed to remind consumers to help recycle the bottle after they have enjoyed the drink. It is Coca-Cola’s largest-ever move in Southeast Asia to use its packaging to deliver a recycling message and inspire consumers to join in reducing waste.

“Like most people, we don’t want to see our bottles end up as litter. We are committed to doing more and being part of the solution,” said Matthias Blume, Group Marketing Director Frontline, Coca-Cola ASEAN & South Pacific. “Our packaging is our biggest, most visible billboard and this is our largest-ever move in the region to use our packaging to deliver a prominent recycling message and encourage action.”

Engaging consumers on the importance of packaging collection and recycling is an important part of Coca-Cola’s vision to create a World Without Waste, as the company works to reach its zero-waste goal by 2030. In 2018, the company pledged robust World Without Waste goals to help collect and recycle the equivalent of a bottle or can for every one the company sells globally by 2030, to make 100% of its packaging recyclable by 2025, and to use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030.

The ‘Recycle Me’ initiative is the latest step from Coca-Cola as part of a holistic approach by the company across Southeast Asia to tackle packaging waste. The company has launched bottles made from 100 percent recycled plastic in some of its biggest markets in the region, such as the Philippines, and has switched its iconic green Sprite packaging to clear plastic across Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, to make the bottles easier to recycle. Coca-Cola is also partnering with other companies to establish Packaging Recovery Organizations (PROs) in countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia with a goal of accelerating packaging collection and recycling in a sustainable way in each country. In the Philippines, Coca-Cola is gearing up to launch a pioneering PET plastic recycling facility in partnership with Thailand-based Indorama Ventures, a global leader in packaging solutions and green technology. The facility will be the largest bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in the Philippines and is expected to be fully operational by Q1 2022.

“All our bottles and cans are recyclable by design. We want to use the power of our brands to encourage more people to recycle our bottles after they have enjoyed the drink, and help the packages have another life,” continued Blume.

“While our company continues to step up its support of packaging collection, recycling infrastructure, and partnerships to combat marine debris across ASEAN, we also understand that one of the most impactful ways our brand can play a role is by using our on-pack labels to highlight a simple ‘Recycle Me’ message.”

The ‘Recycle Me’ message is now being rolled out to all the company’s brand and packs in ASEAN and the transition is expected to be completed across the majority of the company’s packaging by the end of the year. More broadly, Coca-Cola will increasingly be including recycling messages in its marketing campaigns and social media channels to encourage consumers to recycle more.

“Companies like Coca-Cola can play an important role in using the power and reach of their brands to drive consumer awareness around recycling and help inspire behavioral change,” said Mohamad Bijaksana Junerosano, CEO, Waste4Change, a social business in Indonesia that specializes in waste management. “Coca-Cola’s support for sustained packaging collection and recycling efforts are important for better waste management, and we welcome their move to remind and facilitate consumers to recycle their bottles and not to litter.”

Find out more about Coca-Cola’s World Without Waste roadmap and progress here.