Coca-Cola UNITED’s
Commitment to Sustainability in Louisiana
At Coca-Cola UNITED, sustainability is not just a goal – it’s our commitment to the future. We’re dedicated to improving our packaging and recycling initiatives, conserving water and energy, and lowering carbon emissions.
Supporting a Closed Loop and Circular Economy
We’re reimagining our packaging to use fewer resources and more recycled materials. Packaging design transformations help drive a circular economy for our packaging, the fundamental principle behind our sustainable packaging efforts.
Same Bottle. Less Plastic
Over the past 10 years, we have been continuously working to reduce the weight of our bottles and the need for new materials, going from 27g to 21g. But with our latest right-weighting initiative, we have taken an even bigger step forward by reducing the weight of our small plastic bottles to 18.5g.
It’s Clear. It’s Easier to Recycle
In 2022, Sprite transitioned from green to clear plastic, increasing the material’s likelihood to be remade into a new bottle.
When recycled, green plastic is more often converted to single-use items. Clear plastic gives our brands the opportunity to be remade into a new bottle – taking part in the circular economy.
Bottles Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles*
Our 100% recycled plastic bottles* can live many lives.
Beyond delivering America’s favorite beverage, this means a reduction of new plastic, energy use, carbon emissions, and waste with each 100% recycled plastic bottle*.
These bottles* support and sustain a circular economy for PET plastic bottles through recycling efforts.
*Excludes caps and labels
Projects and Partnerships
Keep Louisiana Beautiful
We are proud sponsors of the Keep Louisiana Beautiful organization and their annual Love the Boot (LTB) Week cleanup initiative. This program is the state’s largest litter removal and beautification event.
As LTB’s largest sponsor, our investment helps ensure closed-loop recycling at specified cleanup sites and diverts litter from the landfill by recycling plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Our involvement ensures that beverage bottles and cans are collected and hauled to trusted local materials recovery facilities. (MRF).
Love The Boot Week
The “Love the Boot Week” initiative significantly impacts communities across the state. In 2024, over 19,441 individuals contributed 100,712 volunteer hours at over 760 events, removing a record 347 tons of litter in all 64 parishes.
This initiative also supported environmental sustainability by planting 921 trees and 4,408 plants and refurbishing 336 gardens. Diverted from the landfill and recycled were 7,044 aluminum cans (293 lbs.) and 6,847 plastic bottles (330 lbs.)
“Let Louisiana Shine” Litter Abatement Program
In collaboration with the office of Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, The Pontchartrain Conservancy, and The Osprey Initiative, the Let Louisiana Shine Litter Abatement Program began as a pilot in Four State Parks, including Bogue, Fairview Riverside, Fontainebleau, and Tickfaw.
This program collects and sorts recycled materials and removes trash. All recycled bottles and cans are processed at local materials recovery facilities. As members of the American Beverage Association (ABA) and Louisiana Beverage Association (LBA), Coca-Cola UNITED supported this pilot program through a grant from the Foundation for a Healthy America.
“Litter Gitter” Devices
In partnership with the Osprey Initiative, the Louisiana Stormwater Coalition, and the Pontchartrain Conservancy, Coca-Cola has sponsored the installation of “Litter Gitter” devices throughout various bodies of water within Louisiana. The Litter Gitter is a floating structure that uses booms to direct water flow and litter into a trap, preventing it from going farther downstream.
Currently supported by Coca-Cola, the Litter Gitter program now operates in five areas across the Louisiana basin, capturing hundreds of pounds of litter each year!
Litter Gitter Locations in Louisiana
Partnership with East Baton Rouge Mayor-President/City Hall
Coca-Cola UNITED has placed several custom receptacles in Baton Rouge City Hall, honoring the mayor’s wish to have an easily identifiable recycling system for collecting and properly sorting plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and waste for all East Baton Rouge Parish Government Associates who work in the building.
Essence Festival of Culture HBCU Cleanup & Recycling
For the last two years, to kick off the start of the Essence Festival, Coca-Cola sponsored a New Orleans community clean-up with students and staff from local HBCUs: Xavier University, Dillard University, and Southern University @ New Orleans (SUNO).
In 2024, Coca-Cola also sponsored a recycling sorting pilot at the New Orleans Convention Center to train back-of-house staff on properly sorting and recycling aluminum cans, glass, and plastic bottles. The pilot recycled nearly 13,000 items, more than 550 pounds.
Recycle Dat & Recycle World
New Orleans Mardi Gras Recycling Success!
Each year, Mardi Gras brings more than a million people to New Orleans, and we are committed to stewarding cleanliness and sustainability in our community. Along with the City of New Orleans and 25 other community and environmental partners, Coca-Cola sponsors Recycle Dat, which helps recover glass and plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and beads for proper recycling.
New for the 2025 festival season, Coca-Cola is proud to be the premier sponsor of “Recycle World.” This sponsorship will add a more comprehensive recycling and sorting process to ensure the capture of clean and readily recyclable material.
Collegiate Football Gameday Recycling
For 2024, Coca-Cola UNITED sponsored a local recycling effort during the legendary HBCU rivalry game, Bayou Classic, between Southern University A&M College and Grambling State University, collecting over 440 lbs. of recyclables in Champions Square. Also sponsored was an LSU Recycling Event following the LSU/Vanderbilt football game, collecting over 1600 lbs. of recyclables. The LSU game provided valuable insights for future initiatives, demonstrating that recycling efforts can be easily implemented at future gameday events. Both events highlight the potential for expanding and continuing recycling programs, promoting environmental responsibility across campuses statewide.
During the games, the Osprey Initiative’s efforts efficiently coordinated recycling and material collection at both large-scale events.
