On the Environment:

• PET beverage containers are an excellent choice for the environment.  Light, strong, very energy efficient, 100% recyclable and recycled at very high rates across the country, PET beverage containers are a sound environmental choice.
• 
  PET beverage containers are the most recycled form of plastic packaging in Canada and generate 60% less greenhouse gases, half as much air pollution and 25% less waste water than the production of an equivalent glass container
  
  
• PET is the most recycled plastic packaging in the world.  In Canada PET beverage containers are recycled at rates between 60% and 90%.
  
  
• When a PET bottle is recycled it saves .55 kilowatts of electricity and 53 grams of carbon; put another way recycling of 1 kilogram of PET saves 55,000 BTUs of energy or the equivalent of 1.6 litres of gasoline.
  
  
• Recycled PET can be used to create new bottles or it can be turned into a variety of other useful consumer and industrial products, including carpet, polyester fabric, and other plastic products and packaging.
  
  
• According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian generates about 675 kg of waste annually, of which only 0.2 kg is PET bottles (less than 0.03%)

On Safety:

• PET is approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as a material suitable for food and beverage packaging
  
  
• PET beverage containers are safe and contrary to popular belief, contain no Bisphenol A or phthalates (chemicals used to give plastics strength and malleability) which could leach into the product

On Consumer Choice:

• PET beverage containers offer consumers a light weight, portable and resalable package that is easy to chill and is fully recyclable

Our Packaging Vision

To advance a packaging framework in which our packaging is no longer seen as waste, but as a valuable resource for future use.

Our Goal in Canada

We are working to maximize our use of renewable, reusable, and recyclable resources, ultimately recycling the equivalent of 100% of our packaging.

Coca-Cola intends to remain a global leader in environmental responsibility, particularly as it pertains to PET, as evidenced by:

• Our long-term goal to recycle or reuse 100% of the PET we use around the world and for all of our brands;
• Our lightweighting efforts—30% reduction in weight of our Dasani PET bottles since their introduction;
• Our work to continually increase recycled content in PET bottles to 10% by 2010;
• Our $60 million investment to build the world's largest plastic-bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in the U.S.;
• Introduction of our PlantBottle, a PET container made with up to 30% renewable, recyclable plant-based material:
  • It is still PET plastic, but it is PET plastic made partially from plants
  • It is fully recyclable and can be recycled in the existing PET recycling stream
  • All Dasani and sparking beverage containers used at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games will be made from PlantBottle
  • Coca-Cola will continue to use PlantBottle in Western Canada in 2010

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games

As part of our commitment to the environment and the Olympics, Coca-Cola is taking the following action around PET containers:

• Everywhere Coca-Cola is sold at the Olympic Games consumers will see Coca-Cola’s “Give it Back” campaign. The campaign demonstrates to consumers the potential of every empty bottle to be transformed into a valuable resource for the future.
  
  
• Zero Waste: ensuring 100 per cent collection of all PET containers used throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Villages in Vancouver and Whistler and the Olympic venues.
  
  
• All Coca-Cola associates supporting the Olympic Winter Games will be wearing clothing made out of recycled PET bottles, where feasible. Each Olympic Torch Relay uniform contains 126 bottles.
  
  
• There will be “Green Teams” along the Olympic Torch Relay route to collect and recycle packages at celebration sites.