Coca-Cola Chief Executive James Quincey has alluded to a potential increase in plastic bottle usage in the USA. His comments, made in a call with investors, follow President Donald Trump’s 25% import tax on all steel and aluminium entering the United States. Such a tax could lead to the price of canned food and drinks increasing in the country, with Coca-Cola potentially facing more expensive aluminium cans.
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Coca-Cola could increase its plastic bottle packaging production.
Late last year, Coca-Cola announced that it would be scaling down its sustainability target of using 50% recycled materials in its packaging by 2030. This goalpost has now been moved to using between 35% and 40% by 2035. For multiple years, the company has received negative press from various environmental groups regarding its plastic pollution.
“If one package suffers some increase in input costs, we continue to have other packaging offerings that will allow us to compete in the affordability space,” said Quincey. “For example, if aluminium cans become more expensive, we can put more emphasis on PET [plastic] bottles.”
Quincey went on to remark that packaging is only a relatively small component of the company’s costs, a statement designed to reassure others of the limited impact the tariffs will have on the business.
This potential change in packaging preference goes against Coca-Cola’s recent efforts, as the company has been selling more products in its aluminium containers. This has been at the forefront of the company’s marketing and sustainability strategies. While aluminium packaging is more expensive, it is also more recyclable compared to plastic bottles over time.