Coca-Cola HBC Invests $16.54 Million in European Paperboard Multipack Company

(Photo: The KeelClip paperboard on a multipack of Coca-Cola cans. Credit: The Coca?Cola Company)

by | Nov 22, 2019

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Coca-Cola HBC Invests $16.54 Million in European Paperboard Multipack Company

(Photo: The KeelClip paperboard on a multipack of Coca-Cola cans. Credit: The Coca-Cola Company)

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company is investing €15 million ($16.54 million) in KeelClip paperboard packaging to replace shrink-wrap plastic on multipack cans in Europe.

By swapping out the current plastic covering to keep cans together in Europe, the company expects to eliminate shrink wrap material and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Besides serving as an alternative to single-use plastic, Graphic Packaging International’s KeelClip technology minimizes the amount of paperboard required, Coca-Cola says.

Initial rollouts of the paperboard multipack packaging are planned for Ireland and Poland early next year, Coca-Cola and its strategic bottling partners Coca-Cola HBC and Coca-Cola European Partners said this week. Coca-Cola also plans to transition Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and Romania to the KeelClip packaging in 2020, and the rest of Coca-Cola HBC’s European markets by the end of 2021.

“The KeelClip will be used on all can multi-packs of up to eight cans; larger can multi packs will be bound by a carton pack, saving 2,000 metric tons of plastic and 3,000 metric tons of CO2 annually,” the beverage company said. “Two hundred and fifty metric tons of plastic will be saved in Ireland alone as a result of the move.”

Rethinking packaging materials is part of Coca-Cola’s global sustainability plan called World Without Waste, first announced in early 2018.

Smurfit Kappa Adds Plastic-Free Beverage Packaging

In related beverage packaging news, Smurfit Kappa introduced a new portfolio for bundling canned and bottled beverages on Thursday. The product range is a 100% recyclable, renewable, and biodegradable replacement for single-use plastic rings, according to the company.

The Smurfit Kappa GreenClip uses a corrugated alternative to bundle cans, but still allows for the sale of single units, Smurfit Kappa said. Their TopClip doesn’t require glue and has a 30% lower carbon footprint than the plastic equivalent.

A third product, launched earlier this year, the corrugated Nor-Grip bundles bottles together into consumer units in place of plastic shrink wrap.

“We know from our research that 75% of consumers have a preference for sustainable packaging,” said Arco Berkenbosch, vice president of innovation and development at Smurfit Kappa.

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