Coca-Cola to provide recycled plastic caps and gowns to US graduates

Plastic bottles collected by staff at Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta, USA, will be used to kit out local graduates with caps and gowns made from recycled PET.

Coca-Cola hopes the bottles, collected during Earth week in April, will provide enough recycled plastic to outfit 200 students when they graduate in 2020.

The bottle collection is part of Coca-Cola’s #CocaColaRenew programme, designed to help local communities and the environment in America by demystifying the confusion around recycling for consumers, as well as highlighting the potential good recycled PET can create.

“We want to create a world without plastic waste, starting in our own backyard,” said Caren Pasquale Seckler, VP, Social Commitment, Coca-Cola North America.

“Actions speak much louder than words, so step one is inspiring our associates to rethink their recycling behaviour and reimagine the possibilities of plastic. We believe it’s important to demonstrate the value of recycled PET."

Dr. Meria Carstarphen, Head of the school that will receive the graduation gowns next year, said she was “incredibly grateful” to The Coca-Cola Company for providing caps and gowns made from recycled materials to every APS graduate.