The Coca-Cola company has unveiled a new plastic bottle manufactured partly from plants in a move that its CEO described as a “significant development in sustainable packaging innovation”.

The PlantBottle is fully recyclable, has a lower reliance on non-renewable resources and is more efficient to manufacture than traditional petroleum-based PET plastic bottles, the company said. Coke’s CEO Muhtar Kent, pledged to eventually introduce bottles made with materials that are 100% recyclable and renewable.

Carter Roberts, president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund, US, said that Coca-Cola was the type of company with the ability and power to transform the marketplace. “We are pleased to be working with Coke to tackle sustainability issues and drive innovations like this through their supply chain, the broader industry and the world,” he said.

“The PlantBottle represents the next step in evolving our system toward the bottle of the future,” said Scott Vitters, director of sustainable packaging of The Coca-Cola Company. ”This innovation is a real win because it moves us closer to our vision of zero waste with a material that lessens our carbon footprint and is also recyclable.”

To read the full announcement, click here.

US-based food manufacturer, John B. Sanfilippo & Sons, which owns the Fisher brand, is launching “earth-friendly” packaging for some of its current line of snack and baking products.

The packaging, which replaces previous metallic mylar film, can be referred to as earth-friendly because it uses plant-based renewable sources rather than oil in its production.

The packaging switch is just the start of a series of measures taken by the company to address its environmental footprint. Plans are underway to reduce its overall energy use and it is continuing to research packaging to try and reduce packaging and waste.

But, as John Garoni, director of food service sales at the company, said, much of the battle is in educating customers about the benefits of such measures. “While switching packaging for our Fisher products that are currently sold in a metallic mylar bag to the Earth-Friendly packaging is a start, this has to be accompanied by a general education of customers and consumers as to why we are proceeding this way,” he said. “We know that consumers who are going out to restaurants that we supply product to are more aware of social [and] economic [issues] and are learning about how they can help protect the earth.”

Richard Edwards

Finnish mobile phone giant, Nokia, has saved more than €100m by placing a greater emphasis on the reduction of packaging, SustainableSourcing has learned.

The huge figure demonstrates that the company’s green approach is reaping rich rewards from both a sustainability and a financial perspective.

“We feel we have a responsibility to make a difference,” was how Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasuvo summed up his company’s approach to sustainability after receiving the inaugural award for Outstanding Environmental Contribution at the annual GSMA Awards last week.
 
It’s little wonder, therefore, that other companies are following Nokia’s lead. “All the manufacturers are exploring ways in which they can save on costs and save the environment,” says Tom Byrd, an industry analyst at CCS Insight. “There’s a rush to reduce packaging across all devices.” [Read about the World Economic Forum's report on supply chain carbon reduction].
 
The mobile phone industry has been hit hard by the recent financial turmoil, and with many analysts predicting that even tougher times lie ahead in 2009, the likes of Nokia, Motorola and Samsung are coming under increasing pressure to make themselves more desirable to increasingly cost-focused and environmentally-conscious consumers.
 
Few companies, however, can match Nokia’s recent sustainability record, with the firm’s recycling programme – currently operating in 86 countries – proving to be a massive success. “Recycling is very important and we continue to do a lot there, but there are also real opportunities with energy efficiency and creating services that help people make more sustainable choices,” said Kirsi Sormunen, Nokia’s vice president in charge of environmental affairs.
 
Challenges do though, remain.
 
“There is a major push for all manufacturers to adopt the same chargers across their product ranges – if that happened it could save 50,000 tons of waste a year, which is a huge number,” says Byrd. 
 
“From a sourcing standpoint the major issues facing the big firms in the marketplace are to ensure that the products they’re purchasing are free of certain chemicals. Companies like Nokia are working closely with their supply base and really putting pressure on component manufacturers to make sure that their products are as green as possible.”
 
The cost savings achieved by Nokia illustrate the opportunities that exist and the company’s sustainability drive shows no sign of slowing.
 
“Environmental sustainability is not just the right thing to do, it is the only thing to do,” said Kallasuvo. “I have long maintained that doing the right thing for the environment also makes good business sense.”