In the name of sustainability beverage manufacturers are taking a proactive approach with packaging innovations. With Beverage Industry’s annual Best Packages of Year feature, the editors selected a collection of packaging releases that highlight the sustainable packaging efforts that beverage-makers are applying to their brands.

When it comes to beverage manufacturing and packaging practices, OEMs are creating the machinery necessary to help beverage-makers conserve and reduce their energy output. For plastic bottle manufacturing, it’s not just the increasing adoption of rPET plastic bottles, but also reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that it takes to power these machines, experts note.

Building on its longstanding commitment to environmental sustainability, FIJI Water has transitioned its iconic and best-selling 500- and 330-ml bottles to 100% recycled plastic (rPET) in the United States. The move is a substantial step in reducing plastic waste and replaces almost 65% of FIJI Water’s bottle volume in the United States with recycled material, it says. 

The Coca-Cola Co. announced that two of its biggest brands in North America are taking major steps to support a circular economy for plastic packaging. DASANI is rolling out bottles made from 100% recycled PET plastic (excluding caps and labels), and Sprite is transitioning from green to clear plastic to increase the material’s likelihood of being remade into new beverage bottles. 

Los Angeles-based POM Wonderful, grower and producer of fresh pomegranates and pomegranate juice in the United States, announced it is furthering its commitment to a sustainable future with the transition to 100% recycled plastic (rPET) bottles and shifting more than 90% of its electricity needs to renewable energy.

Agr International Inc. offers its Agr Process Pilot automated blowmolder control system to provide an extra layer of process management and quality assurance for a German juice maker shifting from 25% recycled PET (rPET) to 100% rPET bottles in response to a sustainability directive. 

St-Rémy changed its plastic 50-cl St-Rémy XO and VSOP bottles and its 1.75-liter St-Rémy VSOP plastic bottle from PET to recycled PET plastic. With the transfer to rPET on these three formats, St-Rémy will emit 29% less carbon dioxide, and use a third less water and energy than with plastic bottles made with the traditional PET, it says. 

Pepsi, a brand of Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo, launched Pepsi Trash Talk, an interactive sustainability platform aimed at teaching consumers the ins and outs of recycling, with the help of an all-star lineup of trash talking NFL athletes. A series of mini public service announcements (PSAs) feature pro players in all their competitive glory ― taking the trash talk from the field to the recycling bin.

Coca-Cola, a brand of Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Co., announced a partnership with Lime, the world’s leading provider of shared electric vehicles, to reward people who are committed to recycling. To celebrate the nationwide availability of Coca-Cola Sip Sized bottles made from 100% recycled plastic material (rPET), not including the bottles’ cap and label, the companies are offering more than 40,000 free bike or e-scooter rides to people who purchase and pledge to recycle their 13.2-ounce 100% rPET Coca-Cola bottles.