The company earned recognition for its bottle-attached caps, which it launched for its entire soft drinks portfolio
From the beginning of 2023, the Coca-Cola system in Bulgaria has taken another important step towards its vision of a “World Without Waste”, introducing in phases and for the first time in Bulgaria tethered closures for the bottles of all its soft drink brands. This practical and functional innovation earned the company a prize in the Prize Pack 2023 National Best Packaging Competition. Traditionally, the fifteenth-anniversary edition of the competition was organized by the Food Industry magazine.
The introduction of attached caps is an important milestone in the Coca-Cola System's journey towards sustainable packaging and innovation. It is part of the implementation of the new European Single Use Plastics Directive. It will be mandatory from July 2024 and aims to reduce the environmental impact of certain plastic products.
“At Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria, we believe that small actions are the basis for big changes. And our, seemingly, small, attached cap is proof of that. It means a lot to our team that today all products from our carbonated soft drink portfolio in PET packaging now have caps attached to the bottles. We took up this challenge before it became mandatory for all beverage producers in the European Union, because collecting the bottle together with the cap and recycling the entire package contributes to reducing waste in nature and is another significant step towards our common better and cleaner future”, said Iva Mihova-Mitrovska, Public and Regulatory Affairs Manager at Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria. “The introduction of a deposit system and the circular bottle-to-bottle model for packaging is the next important step that we believe needs to be taken in Bulgaria”, she added.
Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria is committed to creating change by driving a circular economy for packaging, with actions throughout its life cycle - from design to collection. In Bulgaria, 100% of the company's packaging is already recyclable and the caps attached to the bottles are another innovation that aims to further stimulate collection and recycling in the country. Earlier, Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria announced that it would launch around 275 million bottles with caps attached from all its soft drink brands on the Bulgarian market in 2023 to facilitate the collection and recycling of whole packs. At the same time, thanks to the lightweight of its product packaging in 2022, the company has saved 634 tonnes of plastic, reducing the weight in production, which equates to more than 31 million Coca-Cola 0.500ml bottles saved.
Dozens of companies producing and importing food and beverages, packaging materials and packaging took part in the fifteenth-anniversary edition of the “Prize Pack” Awards. The awards ceremony was held within the framework of the International Food Exhibitions at Inter Expo Center, with recognition given to companies that have distinguished themselves and successfully promoted innovative food and beverage packaging, new packaging materials and technologies, as well as those that have introduced innovative design and labelling for their products over the past year.
