Coca-Cola has halted production at one of the world’s largest bottle recycling plants, according to media reports.The Spartanburg, S.C. plant has laid off all 50 of its factory workers and nearly all of its office staff, PlasticNews.com reported. Coca-Cola told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it is making plans to re-open the facility, but that the joint venture running the plant must be restructured “in light of current business conditions."
The plant, described as the world’s largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling complex, opened in 2009 under a partnership between Coke and United Resource Recovery Corp. It was supposed to produce 100 million pounds of recycled plastic when fully operational, or about two billion 20-ounce Coke bottles.
Another aim was to test technology that would increase Coke’s access to recycled content for its bottles, the Journal-Constitution said.
In 2008 Coke estimated its investment in the plant at $60 million.
Coke said it is still aiming to derive 25 percent of its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic from recycled or renewable sources by 2015. The company also has a goal to replace all its 100 percent plastic packaging with PlantBottles, made of up to 30 percent Brazilian sugarcane, by 2020.
Last month Coca-Cola Enterprises and ECO Plastics formed a joint venture to develop a facility to more than double the amount of PET bottles recycled in Great Britain.
Coca-Cola has stopped production at one of the country’s largest bottle recycling plants, according to newspaper reports.
The Spartanburg, S.C. plant has laid off 50 workers, PlasticNews.com reported. Coca-Cola told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it is making plans to re-open the facility, but that the joint venture running the plant must be restructured “in light of current business conditions”.
The plant, described as the world’s largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling complex, opened in 2009 under a partnership between Coke and United Resource Recovery Corp. It was supposed to produce 100 million pounds of recycled plastic when fully operational, or about two billion 20-ounce Coke bottles.
Another aim was to test technology that would increase Coke’s access to recycled content for its bottles, the Journal-Constitution said.
Coke said it is still aiming to derive 25 percent of its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic from recycled or renewable sources by 2015.
