ATLANTA (AP) — Coca-Cola Co.'s premium juice brand Odwalla will package all of its single-serve drinks in plastic bottles made almost entirely from plants starting in March.
The announcement Wednesday comes one day after Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent's told investors the company would have 2.5 billion of another kind of plant-based bottles partially in circulation by the end of this year, with the goal of doubling that next year.
Kent was referring to bottles that are a blend of petroleum-based materials and up to 30 percent plant-based materials.
Odwalla said Wednesday it will use bottles that have at least 96 percent plant ingredients and are made of high density polyethylene.
Both types of bottles are made through a process that turns sugar cane and molasses into a component for the plastics.
The bottles are fully recyclable.
Odwalla said the bottles will have the same appearance, weight and shelf life as the other bottles it uses.
Some 80 percent of Odwalla's business is in the single-serve packages, though the company did not say how many bottles that would be.
