Asahi Beverages has transitioned all plastic soft drink bottles across its Australian beverage portfolio to 100 per cent recycled plastic, marking a sustainability milestone.
The change applies to the company’s full line of soft drinks (excluding caps and labels), including established market brands such as Schweppes, Solo, and Pepsi Max.
With the packaging shift, roughly 350 million soft drink bottles are manufactured in Australia each year using repurposed plastic rather than virgin materials.
This initiative builds on Asahi’s existing use of 100 per cent recycled plastic across its Cool Ridge and Frantelle water product lines, as well as its Cottee’s cordial range.
The transition to domestic recycled plastic was accelerated by Asahi’s direct investments in Australia’s Container Deposit Schemes and the establishment of local processing capabilities.
Asahi Beverages operates as part of the Circular Plastics Australia (PET) joint venture alongside industry partners Cleanaway Waste Management, Pact Group, and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.
The joint venture constructed Australia’s two largest PET plastic bottle recycling plants, located in Albury, NSW, and Altona in Melbourne’s west. State and territory Container Deposit Schemes provide the primary feedstock of collected used bottles for these facilities.
Asahi Beverages Group CEO Amanda Sellers noted that redesigning supply chains around onshore recycled material provides both environmental certainty for consumers and long-term economic alignment for the business.
“PET and the establishment of Container Deposit Schemes by governments and the beverage industry in every state and territory are major initiatives that have helped ensure we have the raw material required to produce 100 per cent recycled soft drink bottles,
By recycling old bottles so that they once again become new bottles and repeating the process, everyday Australians are helping create a more circular economy in Australia,” said Sellers.
In June, Asahi Beverages announced the opening of its first distribution centre in Queensland.
