Innovation

In 2012, Arca Continental Lindley (ACL) launched a new ECOFLEX container for the leading water SAN LUIS in its category to the Peruvian market, which reduced the weight of its bottle from 22 grams to 15 grams in its new 625ml presentation.

This innovation achieved a reduction of 28.6% in the amount of grammage of the bottle. It has less plastic in its composition, making it more environmentally friendly. This launching was accompanied by the "Dale la Vuelta" campaign (Turn it around), since the new bottle can be easily squeezed to occupy an almost minimal space with a simple crossing of hands, contributing in this way to reduce the recycling work. "San Luis is synonymous of purity and we cannot find a better way to celebrate its 60 years of history by launching a presentation that symbolizes our concern and commitment to caring for the environment such as EcoFlex" said Verónica Bonifaz, Public and Regulatory Affairs Director of Arca Continental Lindley.

Arca Continental Linldey also has a recycling discipline for its packaging, for example, collects all expired products from all the points of sale and collects them in 3 destruction centers nationwide where it disposes of the liquid responsibly by disposing of it in Sanitary Landfills and recovering the PET so that it can be recycled. Until a year ago, Peruvian legislation did not allow the use of recycled PET resin to produce new containers, now that it is already possible ACL recycles PET to produce new bottles completing the cycle of circular economy in the use of packages. Currently, the company use 25% recycled PET resin to produce new bottles.

Inspiration

Arca Continental Lindley shares The Coca Cola Company’s vision of a world without waste, they are aware of the national and global issue concerning beverage packages and its final disposition. ACL believes that each package has a value after its first use, been transformed into another package or good.

The Company considers unacceptable that their branded packages end in landfills damaging the environment and affecting the communities around it. Against this problematic ACL invest in their packages and their value chain: it sales packages that are highly recyclable or reusable with few use of plastic, the market innovation of this kind of package is called EcoFlex package.

Package Recycle do not only involves ACL, but also consumers, merchants and distributors; involving them in this process not only ensures a optimal recollection of the recyclable packages, but also helps to spread the values of protecting the planet and the social responsibilities we all should apply in our lives.

“In the case of packaging we are always looking for new options that allow us to satisfy the needs of our consumers and the efficient use of resources, within that framework we manage within the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) and the Economy Circular, in this constructive nonconformity are born new ways that are linked to achieving environmental and economic efficiencies so that they can be viable and sustainable, so the first step was the lightening and then the incorporation of recycled resin in our packaging, understanding that the patterns of consumption and production They are in permanent change”, said Verónica Bonifaz.

Overall impact

The impact of this initiative is the recollection of used or expired packages of beverages and to avoid that end up in illegal landfills or to not be disposed with minimal impact of the environment. Package recycle allows a reduction in the use of PET plastic and carton in the value chain and support the pillars of circular economy in one of Peru’s highest consumer market.

Currently ACL recycles 70 ton of packages monthly, covering their main operations in the country. This material is sent to specialized recycle companies to be reused, the goal to 2030 is to help recycle a package for each package sold.

Business benefit

The characteristics of a PET lightened packaging and partially made with recycled resin allows:

• With 25% less PET-type plastic in its composition, the years of biodegradation of the material are reduced. With normal characteristics, plastic takes between 100 and 1,000 years to decompose.
• Likewise, the lower weight in the composition of the new EcoFlex in San Luis allows the saving of 1200 tons of resin in bottle production per year.
• With the production of the new bottle, for every million bottles that are manufactured, five tons less plastic are used.
• With this bottle, less heat energy is used for the transformation and reuse of plastic.

Other quality advantages: Compression: it compresses easily and takes up less space when it is recycled.

With this, ACL achieves under each of the 3 Rs the following:

• REDUCE: With the lightening the amount of plastic used in our packaging has been reduced. For example, with the Ecoflex bottles of the San Luis brand. This lightening of the bottles has allowed us to reduce more than 6000 tons of PET in recent years.
• REUSE: Promotes the use of returnable containers, more than 35% of sales come from returnable containers and suggest that this percentage continue to increase in the coming years.
• RECYCLE: The portfolio counts since 2017 with bottles made with 25% recycled plastic, nowadays they can say "Recycled bottles generate better new bottles" understanding that this process is still a challenge there is a whole investment to develop technology in Peru, and a coordinated work with suppliers to achieve the best production and conversion costs to continue growing in the percentages of recycled plastic that will continue to be incorporated into their bottles.

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Social and environmental benefit

Plastic is one of the greatest threats to our health and to the ecosystem. The vast majority of plastic bottles are made of polyethylene (PET), produced from petroleum, which extraction generates a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the production of plastic generates toxic gases that end up being emitted into the atmosphere.

On the other hand, not all plastic bottles are conveniently recycled. According to a study presented on June 5, 2018 by the UN, more than 400 million tons of plastic are produced in the world yearly and only 9% of them are recycled. 79% end up in landfills or in the sea, where it takes hundreds of years to decompose. The plastic pollution of the oceans is one of the most serious environmental problems, since it poses a serious danger to marine fauna and birds.

Arca Continental Lindley and Coca-Cola Peru seek to be key players in the transition to a circular economy, so projects to formalize, manage recyclers organizations encourage the search and creation of solutions to the current environmental problem. This commitment also encourages the creation of partnerships that are multiplied and sustainable over time, to work hand in hand with NGO governments and the consumers themselves, so that the culture of recycling takes hold as part of a habit, understanding that all part of a change in behavior and we as an industry want to be part of the solution by generating change.

Additionally, the recycling culture promoted by ACL has promoted projects that have won many awards such as "Ecoescuela", making public schools find income from recycling, as well as making "Ponchilas" backpacks and blankets from recycled pet fabric. It is donated to children from very poor areas of Peru.

Interviews

Richard Fernández, Planning Supply Chain Manager

Verónica Bonifaz, Director of Public and Regulatory Affairs

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