It’s not often the same firms catalyzes me to write a piece twice, but I am going to take advantage of the opportunities that Coca Cola so generously provided this morning with a show about their glass bottle production / recovery process.

Hosted by TLC, the show was essentially a “look at all the good Coke is doing” through their glass bottle usage.  There were two primary lines of thought that were put forward in the (1) glass bottles can be recycled,crushed, and reborn endlessly..  and (2) that in some parts of the world, Coke can re-use the same bottle over and over again (after being cleaned and relabeled).

Both of which I would say Coke (and its bottlers) should receive some credit for as through both of these processes a massive amount of materials are being saved.

But is that enough?  Is that what we should be rewarding companies for?

For me, I am a bit frustrated that this is what qualifies as “sustainable” when the simple fact is that they are saving on waste that the create needlessly… through a process that creates more waste in energy, water, and materials.

In the show, the narrator mentioned that the bottles recovered were those from hotels, bars, and restaurants.  Places that (in my mind) should under no circumstance be using one off packaging to begin with!  Which is really the problem.

Were Coke, and other beverage manufacturers, really concerned about sustainability, and really focused on reducing their packaging, then they would (as an industry or as industry leaders) move away from selling their single unit containers into bars, restaurants, and hotels.  They would return to using kegs, containers, and other refillable containers that are far more sustainable than a glass bottle (even if reused 15 times) could ever be.

… and this isn’t even considering Coke’s claim about a new improved “sustainable” plastic bottle