Coca Cola HBC Switzerland has introduced its Valser water brand in 100% recycled plastic bottles.

Recyled bottle

Image: Coca Cola HBC has launched Valser water brand in recycled plastic bottles. Photo: courtesy of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company.

Valser is the local mineral water brand that will be marketed in bottles made 100% from Swiss recycled PET plastic (rPET).

The launch of latest product follows recent announcements of Coca‑Cola HBC in Ireland and Austria, where water brands Deep RiverRock and Römerquelle are presently marketed in bottles made from 100% rPET.

Coca‑Cola HBC Group supply chain director Marcel Martin said: “Valser is the third major water brand that we have launched in bottles made from 100% recycled PET.  We will soon increase this to four brands in four markets.

“This is a great achievement that represents a huge effort to overcome the significant technical and manufacturing challenges.  It is also clear evidence of concrete progress on the commitment we and our strategic partner The Coca‑Cola Company have made to be active and effective on this critical environmental issue.”

Coca‑Cola said that the shift to 100% rPET will begin immediately, with the 0.5-liter bottle of Valser Sparkling.

All PET bottles will comprise of 100% recycled material by the fall of this year, said the company in a statement.

The launch of Valser in recycled plastic bottles is part of Coca‑Cola HBC’s multi-year plan to solve packaging issues across the 28 markets in the group.

With the support of strategic partner The Coca‑Cola, the World Without Waste initiative was launched to turn consumer packaging 100% recyclable by 2025 and include at least 50% recycled material in the packaging by 2030.

The group is also planning to collect and recycle the equivalent of a bottle or can for each product being sold by 2030, as well as design more sustainable packaging and collaborate with NGOs, customers and stakeholders to find and implement advanced solutions.

Coca‑Cola HBC Switzerland sustainability and quality head Patrick Wittweiler said: “Sustainability is not just important to us, but also to our consumers and customers. That’s why we have been working on our sustainability agenda for many years now, and why we make every effort to reduce our impact on the environment. The shift to 100% rPET is a milestone in that agenda, and one we are very proud of.”