Coca-Cola has yielded to EU pressure and vowed to be more transparent about its recycling claims on plastic bottles, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
The changes come after European consumer groups in November 2023 accused Coca-Cola, one of the world's largest drinks manufacturers, of making greenwashing claims.
Now Coca-Cola will not say its bottles are made from "100% recycled plastic" but make it clear certain elements – the label and cap – are not made from recycled material.
It will also replace previous claims of "Recycle me again" with "Recycle me", "to encourage disposal of empty bottles in a manner which makes it clearer to consumers that that there is not a closed loop in the recycling process", the commission said.
Coca-Cola's "commitments do not amount to an admission that (it) has infringed the law," the commission added.
"The commitments we've voluntarily aligned with the CPC Network underline our shared ambition of providing clear and factual information about our products to consumers," Coca-Cola said, referring to the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network.
The CPC Network brings together the competent authorities of the bloc's 27 member states. Coca-Cola had voluntarily launched discussions about the packaging claims.
"We will be implementing these changes in the coming months," it said in a statement.
Europe's BEUC umbrella consumer rights group said the changes were "good news".
"We expect authorities to monitor if Coca-Cola turns their words into deeds and to take strong measures if this is not the case," BEUC said.
The commission said it would also assess what other major bottling companies in the EU were doing to make sure they "abide by the same commitments".
(AFP)
