This includes every plastic soft drink bottle in Asahi Beverages’ range in Australia, including iconic brands such as Schweppes, Solo and Pepsi, which it distributes under license from PepsiCo.
The conversion means that hundreds of millions of bottles each year are now made in Australia with repurposed plastic instead of virgin material.
Globally drinks companies have been moving to recycled plastic bottles across their beverage brands to meet their sustainability credentials.
Asahi said that the transition was accelerated by its investment in Container Deposit Schemes and the construction of Australia’s two largest PET plastic bottle recycling plants, as part of the Circular Plastics Australia (PET) joint venture between Asahi Beverages, Cleanaway Waste Management, Pact Group, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.
The PET recycling plants, in Albury, NSW and Altona in Melbourne’s west, have helped deliver a significant increase in the volume of recycled plastic made in Australia and allowed Asahi to source more material for its bottles on-shore, the company said.
Asahi Beverages Group CEO Amanda Sellers said that this announcement gives Australian consumers and retailers certainty that when they purchase an Asahi-made soft drink, plastic bottle has been sustainably sourced.
“Around 350 million Asahi soft drink bottles each year are now made in Australia with 100% recycled plastic, as are all our Cool Ridge and Frantelle water and Cottee’s cordial bottles,” Sellers said.
“Redesigning our supply chains this way helps secure our supply of plastic bottles into the future and makes financial sense. As Australia’s leading beverages company, we are committed to embedding sustainability into our strategy, systems and processes.”