'Coca-Cola' Scoops Top Award for New 'Green' Bottle

A new environmentally friendly version of the iconic     ‘Coca-Cola' Contour bottle has been honoured with an award.  At the UK's Starpack Awards 2008, The Coca-Cola Company together with Ardagh Glass won the prestigious Sustainable Packaging Award for its new lightweight bottle.

The bottle looks and feels just like the ‘Coca-Cola' Contour, but is 20% lighter. This will have huge environmental benefits: carbon emissions will be reduced by 2,200 tonnes and 3,500 tonnes of glass raw material will be saved in the UK alone.

It is the result of several years of work, led by ‘Coca-Cola's' US-based technical team together with Ardagh Glass. The aim was to create a lighter and more ‘green' version, without compromising on the famous Contour shape and design.

The new pack weighs in at 210g, compared to the 263g original. In addition, it is 13mm shorter and slightly wider than the old version, but still retains the iconic Contour shape. The bottle will be used for the 330ml ‘Coca-Cola', ‘diet Coke' and ‘Coco-Cola Zero' packs.

"The ‘Coca-Cola' bottle is famous the world over as a design icon, so, while striving to create something new and innovative, it was important to make sure its shape was unchanged," explains Gareth Snowdon, commercialisation support manager, North West Europe and Nordics Business Unit.

 "The technical achievements made by The Coca-Cola Company and Ardagh Glass prove that glass packaging can meet the highest sustainability credentials without compromising the iconic brand," comments Gareth. "This award is a reflection of all the hard work that went into this innovative design, and we're very proud of this recognition."