If you take a look back to our post in August, we mentioned that the contract packaging industry was on the rise. In August, a research market report stated that contract packaging was expected to rise by more than 10% through 2020. We went into a little bit of depth about sustainability as one of the key factors pushing this growth.

As this year continues we can see some companies taking initiative in their push to be more sustainable. According to Packaging News UK, Coca-Cola is one major company that has set its sights on becoming more sustainable. Coca-Cola has set goals they hope to reach by 2020 in an effort to become increasingly sustainable as a company. These goals are laid out in an article excerpt from Packaging News UK and are as follows:

-          Take 40% of the total energy used from renewable and clean energy sources

-          Recover for recycling 40% on average of total packaging placed on our markets

-          Source 20% of the total PET used from recycled PET and/or PET from renewable material

-          Reduce the amount of primary packaging by 25% per liter of beverage produced

-          Certify over 95% of key agricultural ingredients against the Coca-Cola system’s Sustainable Agricultural Guiding Principles

-          Invest 2% of its annual pre-tax profit in communities

-          Double the number of employees taking part in volunteering initiatives during work time by 10%

These goals are a huge step in the right direction of sustainability. If they are able to reach their goals by 2020 it will be great not only for Coca-Cola, but for the packaging industry as a whole. Hopefully seeing a large company such as Coca-Cola take a leap forward in sustainability it will drive others to follow suite.