The Coca Cola Co’s CEO has admitted his company must do more to assist in the collection and re-use of bottles used in its products.

Speaking to shareholders yesterday following Monday’s Q1 results announcement, James Quincey said there needs to be increased focus on collecting PET bottles for recycling purposes. He also added that eliminating single-use packaging entirely is the ultimate goal, by creating a “circular economy” of plastic usage.

“About 60% of our packages are collected or refilled, so there’s another 40% to go,” Quincey said. “The technology to reuse recycled plastic glass or aluminium absolutely exists today … The fundamental gap is in collecting the bottles, and we absolutely need to see this driven up.”

To achieve this aim in the US, Quincey explained that the company has joined the Plastic Pact, a nationwide recycling initiative. The CEO also noted that Coca-Cola’s refillable products currently make up around 50% of sales in over 20 of its global markets.

Yesterday, the company confirmed it would hand its bottler unit in Africa an IPO within the next 18 months.

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